Every year, we look at the data we see at Zocdoc—millions of patient choices, booking patterns, search behaviors—and try to make sense of what it tells us about where healthcare is going. Our annual What Patients Want report is how we share what we’re seeing.
This year, the signal is clearer than it’s been in a long time. AI is changing how patients start their healthcare journeys. Rising costs are changing how they filter their options. But what patients want at the end of that journey hasn’t changed at all: a provider they trust, who knows them, and who they can see again.
Patients Will Replace Dr. Google with AI
Patients will increasingly rely on AI to begin their healthcare journeys. AI will become the go-to tool for pre-care needs like symptom checking, triage, and navigation, as well as for routine tasks like refills and screenings—with a human in the loop.
But as AI takes on more of the “low end” of care, patients will recognize that it is no substitute for the vast majority of healthcare interactions, especially those that require human judgment, empathy, or complex decision-making.
AI Platforms Will Need Healthcare Partners
As AI platforms race to manage everyday tasks—from ordering groceries to booking travel—they will need trusted, domain-specific partners for high-stakes transactions like healthcare. Rather than building bespoke services, leading AI players will plug into best-in-class infrastructure.
Rather than building bespoke services, leading AI players will plug into best-in-class infrastructure.
Healthcare access is too complex to improvise and too important to get wrong. We will see a wave of strategic partnerships where general-purpose AI agents outsource healthcare navigation to trusted experts.
In-Network or Invisible
As premiums and out-of-pocket costs climb, patients will be savvier about maximizing plan value. In-network status will become a hard filter; if a provider is not covered, they are effectively invisible.
But patients will not rely on assumptions. They will demand certainty—and expect clear, plan-specific verification before they book.
Broken Insurance Directories Are on Borrowed Time
The collapse of ghost networks will accelerate. After years of patient frustration and policy inertia, regulators are increasing pressure and enforcement. Payors will be forced to abandon static, error-prone directories in favor of modern infrastructure with real-time data, dynamic scheduling, and feedback loops.
Patients will no longer tolerate calling down a list of doctors just to hear, “We don’t take your insurance.” They will expect—and increasingly receive—accurate, actionable information at the very start of their care journey.
Patients will no longer tolerate calling down a list of doctors just to hear, “We don’t take your insurance.”
Where We Go From Here
The tools are changing. The places people seek care are evolving. But the destination is the same: patients want a human on the other side. A provider who sees them, hears them, and knows their story—someone they actually connect with.
The systems that recognize this—and build for it—will thrive. The ones that chase efficiency at the expense of connection will find themselves increasingly invisible to the patients they’re trying to reach.
Oliver Kharraz, MD, is CEO and founder of Zocdoc. Kharraz comes from a 300-year family tradition of physicians and founded the company in 2007. His perspective is shaped by Zocdoc’s patient behavior data and decades of conversations with providers, practices, and payors.