Using Zesty to Access Excellent Healthcare Professional Service

Zesty is a London based Start-up which aims to make access to dentists, physic’s, private GP’s  and other Healthcare appointments easier for consumers. With Zesty, patients are able to find Healthcare professionals around them, read reviews and book appointments in real time.

Founded on July 2012 by Lloyd Price and James Balmain, Zesty has been improving the patient experience with digital services.  The company’s mission is to enable patients to meet health professionals on any device in less than one minute. Zesty is fully optimised for tablets and smart phones, therefore, patients can book appointments on the move.

Through an email, James Balmain told us: “Zesty is a disruptive business model that “sort out the chaos” of looking for the right Physio/ Dentist/Private GP etc… and arranging an appointment, very comparable to how eBay’s platform greatly improved the efficiency of linking sellers and buyers of previously used goods.”

When asked why they decided to call their company Zesty, Balmain responded, “Zest is one of the major strengths possessed by humanity. ‘Zesty’ individuals not only approach life as an adventure but also they are highly motivated to overcome challenging tasks and situations in life.”

When health professionals register with the company, it creates a dedicated practice page for them. Their practice page provides contact details and information for patients to see. Practice page also allows patients to view healthcare professionals’ weekly availability, read reviews and rating, find out about treatments and pricing, see their location on a map and link directly to their website

Zesty fill the vacant appointments slots with new patients. The health professionals receive an email when a patient books an appointment with their practice. Health professional can also choose to have details of new booking through SMS or Zesty software.

Lloyd Price and James Balmain came up with the idea for Zesty’s appointment booking service after facing difficulties finding dental services. In 2012, they researched and developed a business plan. In January 2013, Zesty secured a seed funding round that was led by Mangrove Capital Partners.

In July 2013, the company developed a web application compatible with tablets and smartphones  That month, the company partnered with Qinec, a provider of practice management software , to enhance accessibility to healthcare appointments. In 2014, the company managed to secure $2 million in additional seed funding.  The funding round was led by ABRT Fund and T Ventures. In the same year, the company expanded its services to include different healthcare professionals from public and private practices. In September 2014, Zesty was named one of “London’s 7 Fast-Growing & Disruptive Health Tech Startups” by the Huffington Post.

Many customers describe Zesty as excellent, easy, reliable and fast. Despite providing services that have been highly celebrated, some consumers categorize Zesty as a poor service provider.  For instance, Clive Davis , a Registered Osteopath, claims he had been with Zesty for nearly a year and he hadn’t received any patients from them.