You have recently launched an online hub for patients to compare dental practices and book appointments. Why does the dental market need something like Zesty?
Last year I moved to a new area and had the job of trying to find a new dentist. I searched online but soon became lost with it all. It wasn’t easy to see who provided NHS treatment or other information like opening times, or charges. Making a decision on where to go was difficult. The whole experience could be a lot better and that is the motivation behind launching Zesty. Zesty aims to give customers the ability to read and compare dental practices in their area, and then importantly book appointments online. The demand is there. We’ve looked at a lot of Google data and there are around 1m searches a month for dentists in London alone (around 12m nationally). So from a patient perspective there is a need for it, but it isn’t just the patients that benefit – practices will also be rewarded by being able to meet that demand. They get an increase in patient numbers, and the ability to fill late notice appointments – something that could make a real difference to their profits, and to patient loyalty.
How easy is Zesty to use for patients?
A potential dental patient will come to the website, they type in their location (though we are starting in London we will quickly spread out regionally, and hope to be national by the end of the year), then they will be presented with a set of search results just as with Expedia or Google. So it is something users will be comfortable with and be able to navigate intuitively. Along with each result listing will be a picture of the dentist or dental practice. One click will take the user through to the practice page where there is more information on the practice, including directions on how to get there, reviews, and then a star rating – and most importantly a live appointment book. So the patient can see what time slots are available in the coming days and can pick the one that suits them best.
How much information will a practice have on the patient prior to the visit?
When choosing the appointment they want, the patient selects from a drop-down box the type of appointment they require and can list any specific need they have, be it a missing filling, orthodontic query, toothache or just a routine check-up appointment. So the clinical requirements are clear to the practice before the patient even arrives at the practice. This is of course alongside the usual admin data captured, including name, age, postcode and so on.
How easy is Zesty to use for the practice?
We have built our own online diary, so after a practice decides it wants to join it will just be a few hours before patients can book appointments. We will set the practice up with its own log in to our system so it will create a unique practice page. Then users simply upload photos, reviews, testimonials, location info, and then they select the appointments they want to make available.
In terms of on-going maintenance, the way we have designed it, we basically want it to be as easy to use as Facebook. We want people to understand the intuitive simplicity. We don’t need to over complicate it. All that dentists need to do is select time slots in the diary.
How often should practices review their page?
We encourage users to log in every couple of days to review availability. This is because when analysing the Google data we can see that people want appointments the same day as searching or the day after, not necessarily in a week’s time. No one thinks to themselves “Oh my God I need to go to the dentist” and then books an appointment for three weeks’ time. Therefore the site will be most effective if appointments are reviewed on a 48 hour cycle.
How long has it taken to get to the launch?
We had the initial idea last September. That doesn’t seem long but we were very keen to get the product out there to the market. We’ve done a lot of market research and met up with some of the big software companies and corporate practices to best understand the market, what practices want and what the problems were.
How confident are you in its success?
Looking at other markets there seems to be a trend. In the US there is ZocDoc and there are similar things happening in Australia, France and Germany, there is no reason the UK should be any different. I remember in 2002 working for a price comparison site, and we tried to find all the lingerie and fashion guys online and they said that no one will buy such a personal item online without seeing it and trying it on. Obviously 10 years later it is completely common place, so I think there is a sense of inevitability to this. It is going to happen. It might be in two months or two years, but people are going to start forcing dentists to offer online booking – and then dental practices will start to realise there is a huge potential increase in demand for their service if they offer the ability to book online. I think Zesty can help a practice meet more demand, and have a positive impact on its finances, but more importantly it can channel patients in need of care to the appointment they need. The idea is very simple, but it can have a real positive impact on people’s oral health – if it does then undoubtedly it will be a great success.