Zocdoc

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zolof

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any of you in private practice world used zocdoc? If so has your business improved; you find it worth the monthly cost?
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I've heard the opposite. That zocdoc brought unwanted patients to practices. In fact, those were the patients other doctors dumped and had nowhere to go. These are non-referred patients. I know 2 psychiatrists who tried it and then stopped it. Zocdoc is accessible to anybody. It's the very reason I will NOT be using it in the future. No thanks!
 
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Interesting. I wonder is there a way to weed out certain patients? They keep contacting me trying to give me a deal to sign up .
 
I don't see any value in it for a cash practice like mine. I built up my own website to be stronger locally than zocdoc. Also it likely can't organize a schedule as well as my secretary does. If I have 2 hours to fill, I would be agitated with zocdoc scheduling 1 new eval in the middle when I could stack 2 new evals with proper scheduling.

Insurance practices I've seen have no trouble filling, so why pay more?
 
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Avoid them at all costs. Your practice appointments will fill up quickly with no shows mostly, followed by entitled drug addicts.
 
Really ? $300 per year and $60 per intake doesn't seem bad if you jack up your rates a bit.

The only kicker would be the no shows I would think
 
liquidshadow22 said:
Really ? $300 per year and $60 per intake doesn't seem bad if you jack up your rates a bit.

The only kicker would be the no shows I would think
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Its a HUGE “kicker”. Zocdoc doesn’t screen patients, enforce no show policies, etc. so the no show rate is very high.
 
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Is it possible to only schedule patients within 24 hours? I guess that would be pretty hard, but you could basically screen out patients who are not trying to be seen same day or next day. I think their rule is if they cancel within 24 hours of scheduling then they cannot charge you the $60 fee.
 
liquidshadow22 said:
Is it possible to only schedule patients within 24 hours? I guess that would be pretty hard, but you could basically screen out patients who are not trying to be seen same day or next day. I think their rule is if they cancel within 24 hours of scheduling then they cannot charge you the $60 fee.
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While they may have updated their site, their goal has always been lead generation in my opinion. I’ve tested/used it myself with other clinics. Rarely is the time I chose actually available. I now expect to get a call later apologizing for the time selected being unavailable, and the company tries to move me elsewhere. I find it frustrating as a user. As my time slot wasn’t available and I had to reach the clinic to reschedule, I’m already a bit frustrated. My odds of showing are reduced. Patients generally don’t “cancel”, they just don’t show. The clinic received the “lead” though so payment is expected.

Once you have the patient, I’d recommend breaking them of scheduling via the company as they may bill you again. It is the highest cost lead generator that I’ve seen.
 
liquidshadow22 said:
Is it possible to only schedule patients within 24 hours? I guess that would be pretty hard, but you could basically screen out patients who are not trying to be seen same day or next day. I think their rule is if they cancel within 24 hours of scheduling then they cannot charge you the $60 fee.
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I've tried to do this.
Doesn't work as planned.
Zocdoc isn't worth it.
 
What about Yelp. Seems like they charge 5.00 per phone call from prospective patients
 
Wait so psychiatry is such in low demand you guys have to pay people to find you patients?
 
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liquidshadow22 said:
For cash practice, you do need to put in some work to recruit patients participating with Insurance requires no work to find patients
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No. This is not how cash works.
Several years ago, after being fairly aggressively marketed, I asked ZocDoc to give me a free trial, but they weren't willing to do it after repeated ask. This is very obvious that they don't feel confident of their product. At this point, I have enough of a reputation out there that I no longer need their referral.

There was a period of time where many cash people in my area signed up for ZocDoc, but more recently as I checked their site very few cash people now have a presence there. This kind of thing drives itself: if a directory doesn't have a comprehensive list of available providers, patients don't believe in it as useful, and stop using it. Then the directory becomes even less valuable.

Their model is not a good fit for cash practices. It may be a good model for a more provider-competitive field (i.e. dentistry), but not for cash psychiatry practice.
 
sluox said:
No. This is not how cash works.
Several years ago, after being fairly aggressively marketed, I asked ZocDoc to give me a free trial, but they weren't willing to do it after repeated ask. This is very obvious that they don't feel confident of their product. At this point, I have enough of a reputation out there that I no longer need their referral.

There was a period of time where many cash people in my area signed up for ZocDoc, but more recently as I checked their site very few cash people now have a presence there. This kind of thing drives itself: if a directory doesn't have a comprehensive list of available providers, patients don't believe in it as useful, and stop using it. Then the directory becomes even less valuable.

Their model is not a good fit for cash practices. It may be a good model for a more provider-competitive field (i.e. dentistry), but not for cash psychiatry practice.
Click to expand...


Cash psychiatry is not a "provider-competitive field"? There are numerous cash only psychiatrists that use ZocDoc. I assume they are getting patients through the site, otherwise why would they bother to keep their listing there? Psychologytoday is widely used by cash patients and it is certainly not comprehensive either with available providers.

So you built your cash practice through reputation in the community primarily?
 
liquidshadow22 said:
Cash psychiatry is not a "provider-competitive field"? There are numerous cash only psychiatrists that use ZocDoc. I assume they are getting patients through the site, otherwise why would they bother to keep their listing there? Psychologytoday is widely used by cash patients and it is certainly not comprehensive either with available providers.

So you built your cash practice through reputation in the community primarily?
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Have you done the work to cross-reference how many people on Psychology Today is also on ZocDoc? *I* actually have. Psychology Today is vastly more comprehensive.

But yes, in the last six months the majority of my own referrals are now from the community. The same is true for several more mid-career people I know.
 
sluox said:
Have you done the work to cross-reference how many people on Psychology Today is also on ZocDoc? *I* actually have. Psychology Today is vastly more comprehensive.

But yes, in the last six months the majority of my own referrals are now from the community. The same is true for several more mid-career people I know.
Click to expand...


I don't disagree that psychology today is more comprehensive. It certainly is, but there are still so many providers for example with academic affiliations who are not on there.
 
Anyone have any recommendations for SEO help? Seems like many of the services I have seen charge quite a bit - seems to range from 3k to 12k per year.
 
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