What You Should Know:
– Blue Shield of California today announced a new collaboration with Zocdoc’s healthcare booking platform to allow its members to seamlessly schedule in-network, in-person, and virtual care appointments directly on the nonprofit health plan’s online member portal.
– The strategic partnership for Zocdoc marks the first time the company is working with a health plan to power scheduling for its online portal. The feature enables appointment booking from a single sign-on, available 24/7 for members seeking care.
A Seamless Experience to Improve Access to Care
Blue Shield members can now see real-time availability of providers and easily access more than 1 million hours of bookable appointments over a 90-day window. Available through the plan’s “Find a doctor” tool, this integration is Blue Shield’s latest effort to create high-quality, seamless experiences for its members and address common barriers to care.
Outdated scheduling systems are a known hurdle in healthcare access. A recent Zocdoc-commissioned survey found that more than half of patients who couldn’t reach their doctor by phone ended up delaying care (54%), with a third giving up on scheduling a visit entirely (33%).
“As we continue to address healthcare access issues, making it easier and faster for our members to get connected to in-network care is absolutely essential,” said Jigar Shah, chief marketing and strategy officer at Blue Shield of California. “To make health care worthy of our family and friends, we must deliver best-in-class member experiences, and Blue Shield is leveraging digital tools to do exactly that.”
Appointments are now available for members across all Blue Shield of California employer-sponsored plans, Individual and Family Plans, and Medicare plans. Both companies will continue to add more in-network provider schedules to the platform.
Blue Shield’s in-network providers who are interested in adding appointments to the system can visit here for more information.
