Challenge

An on-demand medical house call service needed to automate provider and market data synchronization while giving website visitors real-time appointment availability information from their Looker business intelligence platform.

Manual updates created inefficiencies, and the marketing team needed accurate scheduling data and zip code validation to support rapid expansion into new markets.

Solution

84EM developed two complementary WordPress plugins that work together to automate data management and provide real-time service information.

The backend system connects to the Looker API to retrieve real-time appointment availability, provider schedules, market hours, and service area coverage, then integrates this data into WordPress.

The frontend system provides visitors with instant zip code validation and displays current appointment availability, improving lead qualification and conversion.

Technical Implementation

• Looker API Integration. Real-time synchronization pulls appointment availability, market schedules, provider data, and service areas from Looker with configurable endpoints and authentication headers.
• Real-Time Appointment Availability. Operating hours and scheduling capacity are updated automatically from Looker to display accurate same-day availability by market for visitors.
• Background Processing. Large data imports run asynchronously to prevent timeouts and ensure reliable synchronization without impacting site performance.
• Custom Post Types. Healthcare providers are stored as custom posts with metadata including position, markets served, and profile images automatically downloaded from the API.
• Smart Caching. API responses are cached for one hour to reduce external requests while maintaining near real-time data freshness.
• Zip Code Validation. Interactive shortcodes enable visitors to check service availability by entering their zip code, providing instant feedback and safety warning filtering.
• Visual Composer Integration. Custom widgets enable marketing teams to create location pages using drag-and-drop page builders without requiring developer assistance.
• Analytics Tracking. All zip code searches are logged to a database table for market demand analysis and expansion planning.
• Automated Cache Clearing. After each sync, the system automatically purges WP Rocket and Sucuri WAF caches to ensure visitors see updated scheduling information.

Results

The Looker integration eliminated manual data entry and ensured real-time appointment availability was always accurate across all market pages.

Visitors can instantly verify service coverage and view the current scheduling capacity, reducing friction in the conversion process.

Marketing teams gained the ability to quickly build and manage location pages using Visual Composer, eliminating the need for developer assistance.

Analytics from zip code searches provided valuable insights into geographic demand patterns, guiding expansion into new markets.