Today, most Americans struggle to find the right healthcare provider and get timely doctor appointments, as wait times for doctor appointments keep increasing. Meanwhile, lengthy appointment delays increase the likelihood of “no-shows”
Utilizing an innovative online platform just launched in Philadelphia, DocAsap.com (http://www.docasap.com) intends to match patient demand for more timely treatment with available doctor appointments left unfilled due to no-shows and cancellations. At DocAsap.com, patients can now quickly search the real-time availability of local doctors and dentists that match their insurance and background preferences and instantly book appointments online with those doctors. By matching patients in need of care with real-time appointment availability, DocAsap seeks to increase access to care for patients, fill previously underutilized doctor and dentist capacity, and decrease overuse of emergency rooms.
There is a pressing need for timely doctor appointments, as a McKinsey study in November 2007 found that approximately 77% of Americans are willing to switch doctors for more timely appointments. DocAsap expedites care by providing an aggregated, real-time view of the soonest available appointments from dozens of local doctors and dentists who accept a patient’s insurance. Given Philadelphia has the second longest doctor appointment wait time of any U.S. city at nearly one month according to a May 2009 Merritt Hawkins study, DocAsap decided to launch its innovative online appointment booking platform in Philadelphia first.
As part of the company’s mission to decrease emergency room overusage, DocAsap is partnering with hospitals in disadvantaged areas to encourage patients to visit free preventative care facilities rather than emergency rooms for routine treatments. To support this effort, DocAsap is providing its online booking platform for free to free clinics in the region.
Highlighting the company’s mission to improve the U.S. healthcare system, DocAsap’s CEO, Puneet Maheshwari states “DocAsap is uniquely positioned to create value for all healthcare constituencies - patients, physicians and insurance providers. By creating a real-time view of doctor availability, DocAsap will decrease wait times, increase practice utilization and drive healthcare costs lower for all of us.”
DocAsap is a trademark of DocAsap LLC. Other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
