Online healthcare marketplace Zocdoc is launching urgent care on its platform, the company announced Tuesday.

New York City-based Zocdoc helps patients find and book appointments with in-network providers for both in-person and virtual visits. The marketplace supported a limited number of urgent care providers in the past, but “given the growing demand — both from patients and providers — we are now focusing on this as one of Zocdoc’s fastest-growing categories,” said Dr. Oliver Kharraz, CEO and founder of Zocdoc.

In 2023, the company saw the volume of new urgent care facilities on Zocdoc grow by nearly 40% month over month on average and urgent care bookings grow by 80% month over month on average, according to a news release. Patients can now find and book urgent care appointments in 22 states at more than 200 facilities. Providers that join the marketplace pay Zocdoc a fee for each new patient booking made through the platform. 

The company’s urgent care partners include Carbon Health and Rockwell Health Center. Carbon chose to join the platform to reach more patients, said Kerem Ozkay, COO of Carbon Health.

“Zocdoc provides a convenient way to find and book care, empowering us in our mission to make great healthcare accessible to all,” Ozkay said in the news release. “With Zocdoc, we’re able to reach new patients and maximize provider time so clinicians can focus on what they do best.”

Growing demand on Zocdoc’s platform matches national trends. There was a nearly 60% increase in the number of urgent care centers in the U.S. from 2013 to 2019, and urgent care facilities take on nearly 90 million visits a year. 

Urgent care facilities help fill in the gaps as patients struggle to access care, Kharraz said. On Zocdoc’s platform, one in four urgent care appointments happen between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., when doctors’ offices are usually closed. More than half of urgent care appointments made through Zocdoc happen within five hours of booking, versus 7% of non-urgent care appointments. 

“Our goal at Zocdoc is to help every patient find and book every type of care, and it’s undeniable that urgent care providers have become a core part of a patient’s broader medical team,” Kharraz said. “Patients want fast access to care, but they face long wait times; in the U.S., patients wait an average of 26 days to get in to see a doctor. In cases where patients have an acute medical issue and can’t afford to wait, urgent care facilities play an important role in offering fast access to care.”

Kharraz added that for urgent care facilities, “we want to help them reach new patients so they can grow and expand, and have better visibility into patient booking volumes to more effectively manage their staffing and patient flow.”

The news comes after Zocdoc added Federally Qualified Health Centers to its marketplace last month to support patients on Medicare and Medicaid. The company also recently partnered with maternal health company Zaya Care for pregnancy and postpartum services.

Photo: LeoWolfert, Getty Images