On a healthcare marketplace like Zocdoc, you can search for a doctor, filter by your specific insurance plan, see live appointment availability, and book instantly online without picking up the phone. Our platform makes this faster and more reliable than starting with your insurance company’s directory. The difference isn’t only speed. It’s whether the appointment is actually there when you book.<\/p>\n
A directory listing tells you a provider exists. It doesn’t necessarily tell you that you can reach them, whether or not they’re accepting new patients, or if they have an opening soon. That gap can show up in five ways:<\/p>\n
Zocdoc’s nationwide secret-shopper study, The End of Ghost Networks<\/a>, examined roughly 1,000 providers with appointments available online and compared the phone numbers in government directory data with Zocdoc’s continuously verified data. One in five numbers from the government directory were wrong, and more than a quarter of calls to valid numbers went unanswered. Using those government directory numbers, only 38% of calls ended in an offered appointment, while every one of the same providers was bookable online.<\/p>\n Getting through is half the battle. An analysis of provider directories<\/a> found that patients could schedule with one-third to one-half of the doctors listed. When you do connect, the wait runs long. A 2025 AMN Healthcare survey<\/a> found the average wait for a new-patient appointment is 31 days, up 19% since 2022.<\/p>\n Directories can also be inaccurate at the listing level, with wrong networks, ghost providers, and stale data. A healthcare marketplace like Zocdoc closes this reachability gap. You see live appointment availability instead of a static list, and every online booking confirms the provider is real, active, and accepting patients. Health plans that moved to this model prove it works. Blue Shield of California members’ average time-to-care dropped from 31 days to under 10.<\/p>\n The flow is straightforward:<\/p>\n On a healthcare marketplace like Zocdoc, this happens in one place.<\/p>\n Booking online changes how you schedule, not what you pay. Your co-pay, deductible, and coinsurance depend on your plan and the doctor’s network status, the same as if you called the office.<\/p>\n Yes. Most commercial and Medicare Advantage plans cover telehealth<\/a> as an added benefit, and Medicare has extended telehealth coverage through December 31, 2027<\/a>. Coverage varies by plan, so confirm telehealth is covered for your specific visit type before booking.<\/p>\n Three checks before you book:<\/p>\n If a visit turns out to be out-of-network, ask the office to verify your benefits and review your out-of-network coverage before you proceed.<\/p>\nHow do you book a doctor online?<\/h2>\n
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Does booking online change what you pay?<\/h2>\n
Is a telehealth visit covered?<\/h2>\n
How do you confirm your online visit is in-network?<\/h2>\n
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