ZocDoc Adds Former U.S. Senators, Daschle, Frist as Advisors

Two former U.S. Senators will be joining the New York-based healthcare startup ZocDoc as advisers. Former Senate majority leader and representative from Tennessee Bill Frist will join the company. In addition, former Senate minority leader and representative from South Dakota Tom Daschle will be joining the group.

ZocDoc is an online medical appointment booking service that helps patients connect with dentists, doctors and several other healthcare specialists. They're currently backed by a small board of advisors that includes popular venture capitalist Michael Arrington.

Senators Daschle and Doctor Frist have an amazing wealth of experience in healthcare reform and bipartisan initiatives, said ZocDoc in a recent blog post. With Senators Daschle and Doctor Frist lending ZocDoc their expert advice, we're in a better position than ever to build the kind of healthcare system our country deserves.

Frist has been practitioner of medical sciences for decades. He was formerly a major stockholder of the Hospital Corporation of America and performed more than 150 heart and lung transplants before becoming a U.S. Senator. According to Washington Post voting records, Bill Frist has voted along Republican Party lines 94 percent of the time he's voted including agreement on HR 4297, which extended the Bush tax cuts, and HR 3199, which was a modified version of the 2001 Patriot Act. In another significant vote, Frist voted against party lines when he agreed to HR 810, which allowed federal funding for research on stem cell lines derived from embryos that would otherwise be destroyed.

Daschle has similarly been entrenched in politics of the healthcare system for several generations, though Daschle was never a practitioner as was Frist. Daschle also voted along party lines for a large majority of his votes in Congress according to information provided by Washington Post voting records database. For the 675 votes logged on the website, Daschle voted with the Democratic Party for 94 percent of the time. Daschle was nominated to serve in President Obama's cabinet as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, but withdrew his name among a political scandal in which Daschle was accused of incorrectly reporting income taxes.