Zocdoc buys insurance-check startup Sohar, its first acquisition in nearly 20 years

Zocdoc, the New York appointment-booking company, said on 14 October 2026 that it has bought Sohar Health, whose software automates checks on patients' insurance eligibility and benefits ¹. The transaction closed on 2 October and is the first acquisition Zocdoc has made in close to two decades of operation ¹. Neither company disclosed a price ¹.

What Zocdoc is buying

Sohar was founded in 2023 by a physician and an engineer ¹. Its APIs locate a patient's insurance cover, confirm eligibility and benefits, check whether a provider is in network and estimate costs, and it says it supports more than 1000 US payers ¹. The distinguishing feature, in Zocdoc's account, is that Sohar can find a patient's plan from little more than a name and date of birth rather than a full set of insurance details ¹. Its customers include BetterHelp, Headway, Rula and Talkiatry ¹.

The deal converts a supplier relationship into ownership. Zocdoc chose Sohar as its insurance technology partner in 2025 after reviewing other products, and says millions of patients have since confirmed their cover through Sohar while searching on Zocdoc ¹. Sohar will keep its name, products and existing customers and will carry on growing its own business ¹.

What it means for the market

The acquisition is tied to a change in where Zocdoc sells. Earlier in October the company launched its Care Access Network, which lets partners book appointments in real time with more than 200,000 providers across 200+ specialties and 10,000+ insurance plans on their own sites and apps ¹. The partners it names include Amazon Health AI, Gemini, Yelp, Healthgrades and Blue Shield of California ¹. Zocdoc says the Sohar technology will be used both on its own marketplace and across that partner network ¹.

That puts insurance verification inside the booking step that AI assistants and other third parties now reach through Zocdoc. Oliver Kharraz, Zocdoc's founder and chief executive, said the aim is to make insurance clearer for patients and providers "at the moment of booking" ¹. For other scheduling and patient-access vendors, the deal means Zocdoc now owns the coverage-checking technology it previously used as a partner's product ¹.

Zocdoc points to KFF data that half of insured adults struggle to understand at least one aspect of their health insurance, as evidence of the demand it is addressing ¹.

Caveats

The only source is Zocdoc's own announcement, so the deal terms, Sohar's revenue and the number of staff joining are unknown ¹. The payer coverage and customer base described are all in the US, and the release gives no plans outside that market ¹. How Sohar's other customers fare under Zocdoc ownership will rest on the commitment in the release that its products and customer relationships continue without disruption ¹.