How HealthTech HotDoc went from one practice to 21,000

When Dr Ben Hurst finished his medical degree, he had no idea his career would take him down the path of running one of Australia’s most successful healthtech startups. As a doctor, from a family of doctors, Ben knew the pain points of the industry firsthand but couldn’t find any tech solutions aimed at the medical industry. 

Fast forward 10 years and HotDoc is now Australia’s largest and most trusted patient engagement platform with over 21,000 listed doctors, 9 million active patients and 2.5 million appointments made every month. 

However, with “zero business pedigree” the founder admits to having his fair share of ups and downs throughout his journey to success.

Taking a leap of faith into business

A conversation over dinner with his GP mum inexplicably changed the course of Dr Hursts’s future, as they discussed their frustration with outdated administrative processes which cost medical practices time and money.

The seeds of the idea for HotDoc were sown and Dr Hurst took a leap of faith into a world in which he’d never worked, business. 

“Startups are hard, particularly when you have zero business pedigree like I did. But the idea was so strong in my mind and I wanted to cultivate an out-of-box creative way of thinking, which medical practice had never allowed,” said Dr Hurst. 

“Hearing my family talk about the administrative and tech challenges surrounding running a medical practice, I knew there had to be a better way, so I set out to create a tool to help doctors become great doctors by removing unnecessary tasks,” said Dr Hurst.

From the original business concept, ZocDoc, to its final iteration, HotDoc, the startup founder had a dream to create a tech platform which would enhance the doctor-patient experience. 

As time progressed, HotDoc evolved from online bookings to a patient engagement platform, helping medical centres to communicate and engage with their patients more effectively.

However, the rise of remote health care really took off during the pandemic, which forced medical clinics across the country to change their practices. 

As a bootstrapped company operating for ten years, HotDoc has seen many changes in the healthtech landscape. However, none were as significant as the pandemic, which forced medical clinics to change their practices overnight and forced the acceleration of remote healthcare. 

“We already had a strong number of practices across Australia using our services, so the growth in that sense wasn’t overly significant. However, we knew our doctor’s were doing it tough and we wanted to help from that stand-point,” said Dr Hurst.

“Where HotDoc really made a difference was through our vaccine module, which experienced over 10 million appointments, so it felt good to play a valuable role at a community level,” said Dr Hurst. 

With COVID-19 less prevalent, the medical landscape is now facing another challenge, which could risk the viability of many medical practices.

Poor online payments infrastructure threatens the viability of GPs bulk billing

There are many challenges when it comes to accepting payments in medical practice, including implementing the right system for bookings and payments, finding the right partners and securing payments upfront in a timely manner. 

“When practices have the right payments technology they can take private appointment payments up-front, which enables the business to keep operating,” said Dr Hurst. 

“The medical industry is in crisis right now because Medicare bulk-billing rebates are woefully low and practices don’t have the payments infrastructure to manage their cash flow effectively. This is where online payments become vital. We have a great partner, Pin Payments, who takes care of that aspect for us and who have been instrumental in providing us with the tools to help GPs,” said Dr Hurst. 

“It’s tech changes like these that we need to be at the forefront of, as we continue to work towards providing a holistic health solution for patients in Australia,” said Dr Hurst. 

With one in three patients using HotDoc, the HealthTech’s growth has been substantial and shows no signs of slowing. HotDoc is on a mission to change the face of digital health care for the better, to create a fairer landscape for doctors and their patients.