Zocdoc: Digital marketing for doctors in primary care
- Attract more patients. Millions visit our site every month to search for a new practice.
- Join for free. There’s no charge to list your primary care practice, no setup cost, and no monthly fee.
- Pay for results. You only pay when a new patient books their first appointment.
See how easy it is to reach more of the right kind of patients.
Reach new patients looking for primary care. Pay only when they book.
Sign up today to see how Zocdoc takes the guesswork out of medical marketing for doctors.
Why Zocdoc is a leader in marketing for doctors?
Zocdoc is the best physician marketing solution for primary care physicians
There are many companies that offer to help with marketing for doctors. After all, you spent years training to be an expert on treating patients not on physician marketing.
So, how is Zocdoc different? Firstly, Zocdoc is the place where many patients turn to find a new primary care doctor. As the top marketplace for healthcare in the US, we had millions of patients searching for a new PCP in 2022.
Secondly, we make it easy for these primary care patients to find and choose the right PCP by allowing them to filter by practice location, insurance plan, visit reason and more.
Not only do primary care doctors benefit from the huge volume of patients searching on Zocdoc, they’re also more likely to get bookings from patients who are the right fit for their practice.
Thirdly, we’re not the new kid in town. We have primary care practices that joined in 2008 and are still on Zocdoc today!
Finally, most PCPs know that reviews are very important in digital marketing for doctors. Zocdoc can help with online reviews, both in terms of quantity and quality. In 2022, primary care providers on Zocdoc had 248 reviews on average. Unlike some other websites, Zocdoc only allows patients who have booked with you on Zocdoc to review you, ensuring that your reviews are high quality.
What problems does Zocdoc help primary care doctors solve?
Every practice has their own specific needs that determine what they look for in a marketing program. Here are some typical ones from our primary care clients:
- New doctors who are looking to open or grow their first practice.
- Doctors who are in expansion mode and have either hired a new doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant and are looking to help fill their schedule.
- Tenured doctors who need to maintain the size of their patient panel as patients move and change jobs.
- Even doctors who are considering retirement and are looking to boost their patient panel to increase the value of their practice when they sell.
Most PCPs are looking for new patients. But for an effective physician marketing plan, it’s important to look beyond simply getting new patients. Some primary care physicians just want to optimize on finding the most cost-effective way to get as many new patients through the door, while others have more specific needs, like wanting to attract certain types of patients. For example, when it comes to insurance, Zocdoc helps PCPs get the right types of patients for their practice by enabling them to specify what insurances they accept and what procedures they are willing to treat.
One problem we hear primary care doctors mentioning a lot is how difficult it is to fill last minute openings. We know that patients sometimes reschedule with little notice, or even worse, don’t show up at all. Office managers and receptionists tell us that it’s not fun to call every patient booked for tomorrow to see if they can come in today. And an unfilled appointment slot means there’s revenue being left on the table.
The good news is that many of the patients on Zocdoc are actually looking for an immediate opening. In fact, almost half of appointments on Zocdoc occur within 3 days of booking.
No matter why a PCP is looking for marketing and/or new patient acquisition help, Zocdoc is a great solution for marketing for doctors. Advertising to consumers and attracting patients who are searching for appointments is our specialty, and we help millions of primary care patients find the right PCP and book an appointment.
Helping primary care physicians reach the right new patients
How does a new patient find a primary care physician on Zocdoc?
Zocdoc is a key part of any digital marketing plan for doctors because we’re where the patients are. In fact, we get over 6 million patients monthly on our website and mobile app. Here’s why: We’ve spent years becoming experts in consumer advertising and patient marketing and how to attract patients looking for immediate bookings with PCPs (and countless other specialties for that matter).
We reach these new patients with television ads, paid search, direct mail campaigns, social media, even podcasts and billboards. All that media, plus our well-established brand, attract a steady stream of potential patients who want to find a new provider. Let’s say a new patient needs to see a primary care physician. They visit Zocdoc.com and enter what they’re looking for—their insurance, location, what procedure they need—and they’re presented with a list of providers who are in-network and who are right for their needs. Not only can they read reviews and stats to decide which provider is the best fit, they can also see their immediate openings and book an appointment directly.
Zocdoc even lets PCPs put a Book Online Button on their own website so new and existing patients can use this scheduling software (and bookings from your own website are free!). Whether patients have an illness, a cough or abdominal pain, or are looking for an annual physical or a general consultation, they come to Zocdoc to find the right primary care physician. But it doesn’t stop there; Zocdoc also helps collect their intake information online in advance so they show up ready to be seen, sends appointment reminders, and even solicits reviews after the fact.
By doing what’s right for patients, we also help providers grow their practices and treat more of the patients who are right for their practice. After all, isn’t treating more patients the reason you became a PCP in the first place?
Patients are searching for specific visit reasons
Patients are searching for specific visit reasons
Patients who come to the Zocdoc website or app searching for a PCP can choose the specific procedures they’re looking for—and see a list of practices who accept patients for those visit reasons. Below are some of the most commonly selected visit types, but if you’re interested, you can see a full list of choices they can select from at the bottom of the page.
- Illness
- Annual Physical
- General Consultation
- Infection Consultation
- Blood Work
- Obesity / Weight Loss Consultation
- Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD)
And they’re searching for all kinds of subspecialties
When it comes to finding a primary care provider, patients often have a particular type of practice in mind. That’s why Zocdoc lets them be specific about their needs and the type of practice they’re looking for. As you see above, we have patients searching for very specific appointment types, but many also search for a specific specialty including:
- Family Physician
- Internist
- Pediatrician
- Geriatrician
Patients are also searching for all kinds of insurances
We also want to help ensure that patients can find and choose PCPs who accept their insurance carrier and plan (or can specify whether they’ll pay out of pocket, etc.). Primary care providers on Zocdoc also can specify which types of carriers and plans they accept. While there are hundreds of variations of insurance carriers and plans (and you can see a much longer list at the bottom of this page), here are some of the carriers primary care patients commonly choose:
- United Healthcare
- Aetna
- Cigna
- Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Medicare
- Medicaid
- Healthfirst
- Fidelis Care
- Humana
Plus Zocdoc works with many primary care practice EHRs
Zocdoc integrates seamlessly with your practice schedule so patients can see and book your real-time availability—and we’ve spent years building integrations with over 150 EHRs so you only need to manage one calendar. We work with scheduling softwares of all sizes, including:
- Epic
- Athena
- EClinicalWorks
- Cerner
- Kareo
- AdvancedMD
- NextGen
- AllScripts
- Office Ally
- Medisoft
- CareCloud
Ready to try Zocdoc for yourself?
It’s free to join and you pay only for new patient bookings. Sign up today.
More visit reasons and insurance carriers
Here is a longer list of primary care visit reasons and insurance carriers new patients choose when searching for the right PCP. Bottom line: We let both the patients and the providers specify exactly what they’re looking for, so you get more new patients who are right for your practice.
Expanded list of primary care visit reasons
A - E
F - L
M - R
S - Z
Expanded list of primary care insurance carriers
A - E
F - L
M - R
S - Z