Oliver Kharraz, Zocdoc CEO

**Carol Massar** (0:02)
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**SPEAKER_2** (0:08)
You're listening to Bloomberg Businessweek with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio.

**Carol Massar** (0:15)
Hey, earlier this year, Bloomberg reported out on how the pharmaceutical industry is using AI to speed up drug discovery with companies including Eli Lilly and Sanofi striking licensing deals with AI companies. Yet, and this was earlier this year, AI has really shown some promise in the early stages of drug development. There is some caution though, as the FDA has never cleared an AI-designed treatment and some AI-made treatments have failed in clinical trials.
You know what? We're finding our way through this, and that's true when it comes to AI and how healthcare is delivered and how we interact with healthcare professionals.

**Tim Stenovec** (0:48)
Yeah, we have these guardrails set up to prevent bad things from happening and slowly move through them. Right? That's the bureaucracy doing what it's supposed to do.

**Carol Massar** (0:56)
Exactly. The guardrails do matter. We're curious what our next guest has to say because they just last week announced a partnership with the Gemini app to make a gentic healthcare appointment bookings a reality. Delighted to have back with us Dr. Oliver Kharraz. He is the CEO and co-founder of Zocdoc. It is a platform that connects patients with doctors and also provides telehealth according to our producer Anna. It's the only way to find health care professionals and he joins us in New York City.
Dr. Kharraz, good to have you here with Joe and myself. AI, tell us how it's impacting your world increasingly and also how patients communicate and interact with health care professionals.

**Oliver Kharraz** (1:41)
Thank you Carol. Good to be here.
So as you pointed out, Zocdoc is known as a destination site that makes it really easy to find and book doctors. And we've built the infrastructure that makes this possible over the last 20 years. What's new now is that we're opening up this infrastructure to third parties, so we can power access to care everywhere patient search. As part of this, we just announced our partnership with Gemini to bring that seamless, agentic appointment booking experience to the Gemini app.

**Carol Massar** (2:14)
What does that mean?
Unpack that. So you're opening it up to third parties. Tell us how that changes the experience if I'm on your app.

**Oliver Kharraz** (2:23)
Yeah. So if you're on our app, as you've always been able to do, you can say, this is the kind of care I need, this is where I am, this is my insurance coverage. We will immediately show you which doctors are available in your neighborhood that accept your insurance. We show you the real-time availability that you can then book with just a couple of clicks. That's been sort of a classic if you want to. But what's true is that not everyone starts the care journey on Zocdoc. For us, it's important that whichever front door patients choose, that this door actually opens and we're enabling this for everyone.
To the degree that a patient is using AI, they can tell the AI, I'll use Zocdoc or just say here I want a, for example, a dermatologist near me that accepts my insurance, and then you'll see the options and you can go through an authentic booking experience.

**Tim Stenovec** (3:27)
I mean, can we go further into this discussion of people using AI for potential medical advice and needs and what Zocdoc is trying to do, right? I mean, in some level, speaking of the guardrails, it feels like you guys are coming in here and saying, that's all great, but you do still need a reliable platform to get you connected with these folks. Like, how are you guys day by day, this is changing, addressing this for your business model?

**Oliver Kharraz** (3:56)
Yeah, high level, the way that we look at it is that AI can provide information to patients and a doctor is going to provide the care, and we are the connective tissue between those two things. We don't necessarily provide the AI, but when a patient gets engaged, gets very personalized information from AI, and now says, oh, I should take action on this, I should actually receive care, we make it very easy with just a couple of clicks or voice commands to then book an appointment and be seen in a short amount of time.
To the question, how does this fit in our business model? Well, we are in the business of making these connections. We make it really easy for the patient to find care when they need it, and we do that dramatically better than the classic, pick up the phone and dial for doctor's experience, where on average it takes a patient 31 days to be seen. On Zocdoc, the typical appointment happens within 24 to 72 hours, so an order of magnitude faster, and that level of convenience can make a real difference to patients. Can keep them out of the emergency room, can get them to better care, and can get them to that care sooner before their conditions get worse.