Medical platform optimizes geolocation to find local doctors fast

Growing demand drives need for geolocation services

Top Doctors provides a searchable resource for people around the world looking for healthcare professionals in their area. It was founded in 2013 in Spain, and also has renowned doctors across every specialty in Europe, Latin America and the US.

The platform aims to facilitate the search for medical professionals by specialty, pathology and location. Available as both an app and a desktop version, it also lets users compare doctors and request appointments.

The success of the platform – especially with the exponential growth of digitalized services in recent years – led Top Doctors to realize it required a change in its technological approach.

Previously, the service did not require a geolocation system – it was more of a directory. As demand grew, it added more features such as the option to manage appointments and provide location information. This is when the need arose for geolocation.

With experience already gained with Google Maps Platform, Top Doctors wanted to optimize its use of APIs. It turned to SoftwareOne for its expertise in this area.

Optimizing APIs for geocoding and maps

TopDoctors was already using three Google Maps APIs:

Geocoding API – this shows patients where the closest doctor is to their location, converting geographical latitude/longitude coordinates into street addresses.

Dynamic Maps (JavaScript API) and Maps Static API – which, when combined with geocoding, provides information on a map about where a doctor or medical center is located.

However, these APIs weren’t optimized, which resulted in a poor user experience.

After assessing the setup, SoftwareOne proposed that Maps Static be established as the default API for each search, rather than the JavaScript that had been used up until that point.

As a result of this change, initial loading times were reduced. If the user continued the search, the JavaScript API for dynamic maps would load afterwards, improving the overall user experience.

Complex searches were optimized by around 170% with the optimization of the APIs from Google Maps Platform.

– Alberto Lahuerta, Senior Developer, Top Doctors

Faster search results with reduced costs

As a result of the API optimization, Top Doctors achieved greater speed and better platform performance, which translated into better SEO positioning. One notable improvement was in the speed of complex searches: searches that previously took around 5 seconds are now completed in only 2 seconds.

At the same time, costs were significantly optimized – direct costs were reduced by more than 85%.

The search tool performance resulted in a far better user experience, which ultimately drove an increase in the number of app users.

Without a doubt, optimizing the use of Google Maps Platform was a key factor on the road to success for Top Doctors.