Aware that a vast number of people are rarely able to speedily access doctors, Ari Tulla, co-founder and CEO of BetterDoctor, decided to develop a solution. Following a method that is in the same strain as the highly successful ZocDoc, BetterDoctor’s core aim is to crisply connect patients with doctors and eliminate all of the obstacles associated with trying to make that one crucial appointment.

What distinguishes BetterDoctor is the all-inclusiveness of the platform. BetterDoctor compiles all three important data points: patient medical need, accepted insurance plan, and quality metrics. As a result, patients no longer need to go the traditional route of finding a doctor through Google or Yelp, then through the time-consuming hassle of making a series of phone calls — instead, they simply indicate their needs, insurance, and availability. In turn, patients easily make appointments, and healthcare practitioners experience greater online presence.

Of course, many are wondering just how effective these platforms will be in managing to fulfill that rosy, theoretical goal. The answer may simply be in harnessing technology to effectively aggregate and integrate the system with the various practice management software used by the doctors. ZocDoc, for instance, has been working continuously at aggregation with doctor office scheduling systems in order to give their users the opportunity to fill in last-minute cancellations that usually go to waste.

What will be interesting to see is how quickly and with what ease BetterDoctor will be able to progressively build their presence nationwide. Startups like ZocDoc have already proven that this kind of innovation in healthcare is something being warmly welcomed, especially given the notion that the average wait times to get a new doctor’s appointment in major cities usually entails several phone calls and some lengthy hold times. This is certainly not an all-encompassing healthcare fix, but it is a step in the right direction.