Blue Shield of California has partnered with Zocdoc to simplify how members book in-network care directly through the health plan’s online portal. Starting this week, members using Blue Shield’s “Find a doctor” tool can view real-time availability and schedule primary care, specialty, vision, dental and mental health appointments—both in-person and virtual—up to 90 days in advance. The integration uses Zocdoc’s booking interface and requires only a single sign-on, making it available 24/7.
This marks Zocdoc’s first collaboration with a health plan to embed its scheduling technology into a member portal. Blue Shield chief marketing and strategy officer Jigar Shah said that faster, easier access to care is critical to improving health outcomes. Studies show that outdated phone-based systems lead more than half of patients to delay care and one in three to abandon scheduling efforts entirely.
Digital scheduling tools are especially popular among younger patients—72% of Millennials and Gen Z prefer online booking—and 61% of consumers consider online appointment availability a key factor when choosing providers. Zocdoc founder and CEO Dr. Oliver Kharraz noted that this partnership leverages nearly two decades of scheduling expertise to help payors modernize access and coordination.
Appointments are now bookable for all Blue Shield employer-sponsored, individual, family and Medicare plans, with more providers and specialties to be added over time.