Each month, millions of people visit Zocdoc.com or use our free mobile app to search for quality healthcare providers. This means that every minute, patients are telling us with their clicks what they want when it comes to their care –– and where. While some might think of patients as a monolith, we know that each search and each booking, whether in-person or virtual, represents a different need, a different priority, a different desire.
At Zocdoc, we have the privilege of receiving this feedback from patients each day. Here’s what the data shows for where patients accessed care in 2023.
Where are patients seeking care?
Virtual vs. In-Person
Virtual visits made up 18% of all appointments booked on Zocdoc in 2023, a number heavily skewed by mental health bookings, which are primarily virtual. Excluding mental health, only 8% of 2023 bookings on Zocdoc were for virtual visits.
Across nearly all specialties, patients strongly prefer in-person care. Mental health was the notable exception, leaning 86% virtual.
Excluding mental health, Gen Z and Millennials booked the most virtual appointments.
Proximity
Roughly half of all virtual appointments took place within 20 miles of the patient, while almost 4 in 5 physical appointments were within 20 miles, indicating patients’ preference for provider proximity — even when scheduling virtual care.
For in-person appointments, proximity was even more important for more “hands-on” specialties.
As such, proximity of mental health providers mattered much less than other specialties, so long as they operated within the same state as the patient’s residence.
As many businesses have gone hybrid, so has healthcare.
Patients know that healthcare is inherently physical, and they value establishing a virtual relationship with a provider that can continue in person as needed. Outside of mental health, when booking a first visit virtually, nearly 1 in 5 patients (17%) booked an in-person follow-up. However, this online-offline continuity of care differed by specialty.
Get to know these patients firsthand by listing your practice on Zocdoc today. Consult with an enterprise sales representative to learn more about how Zocdoc can grow your business.