Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

HEALTH

French government partners with Doctolib for Covid-19 vaccine appointments

The French government has announced a partnership with the widely-used medical app Doctolib to allow people to book their vaccine appointments online.

Published: 12 January 2021 17:15 CET
French government partners with Doctolib for Covid-19 vaccine appointments
Photo: AFP

As France begins to step up its vaccination programme, the government had already announced that appointments could be booked by phone or via the state website sante.fr.

Now, however it has added that Doctolib – the app already in use by millions of people to book regular medical appointments – can also be used to book an appointment at a vaccine centre.

At present the vaccine is only available to certain groups in France – residents and staff in the country's Ehpad nursing homes, medical staff aged 50 or over and – from January 18th – the over 75s.

Doctolib says its vaccination appointments feature will be live from Thursday, which is also the day that over 70s can begin to make appointments.

 

The online appointments for vaccines will only be for vaccination centres – which France aims to have 600 of by the end of the month. Doctolib will also be involved in some of the organisation of vaccine centres.

People can also opt to be vaccinated by their usual family doctor, or make an appointment in advance of vaccination with their doctor to discuss any concerns.

France has a strict priority order for when each group gets the vaccine, and at present there is no facility for people not in the priority groups to register in advance.

READ ALSO How France plans its Covid-19 vaccine programme

After a slow and widely-criticised start to the vaccination campaign the government has also simplified the appointment and consent procedure.

After making the appointment via phone or internet, people in eligible groups will have to fill out a health questionnaire and give consent, and then will be given the injection by a doctor or nurse in a vaccination centre.

They will stay in the vaccination centre for 15 minutes afterwards, in case of any side effects, and then go home. The second dose of the vaccination will be given three to six weeks after the first.

Most vaccinations in France are currently being done with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, but the first doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived in France on Monday. They have been prioritised for the eastern areas of the country that are seeing higher-than-average case numbers and high pressure on hospitals.

Doctolib is one of France's most successful start-ups and the smartphone app is used by millions of people to find a doctor or specialist in their area and book appointments.

For newcomers to France it also has a particularly useful feature – listing the languages that each doctor speaks. 

READ ALSO The eight smartphone apps that will make your life in France easier 

Member comments

  1. My wife and I are both over 80, computer literate and drive. We found this evening (Wednesday 13th) that Doctolib was already open for Covid vaccination appointments. However, the site would only allow us to book at a centre some 70 kms from our home in the Ain, a difficult, tortuous drive across the Jura mountains. Nevertheless, we persisted and obtained a rendezvous. At that point, a note appeared telling us that the Saint Claude centre was only for residents of the Haute Jura region. On the government website sante.fr we found that there is a centre in Annecy, a direct drive along the autoroute. But there was no way that I could get the Doctolib site to make me an appointment there. Hopefully things will improve, but I wonder how other older people, French and foreign, will fare without computer skills and their own means of transport.

  2. When the French Government announced that over 75’s would be able to make appointment for vaccinations after 14th January,so that the criticism of the rate would be abated I was relieved. How ever the reality is different. On the 14th the site was not working and the message said that it would be in operation today, the 15th. It is live but NOT for people over 75! Very disappointing, why raise peoples hopes.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

HEALTH

The different ways you can make a doctor’s appointment in France

Booking a medical appointment in France can be time-consuming – especially if you are new to the country and are looking for an English-speaking doctor.

Published: 13 May 2024 16:52 CEST
The different ways you can make a doctor's appointment in France

You do not need a carte vitale to book a doctor’s appointment in France – anyone who needs medical help while in the country is entitled to it, but you may not be entitled to any reimbursement if you are not part of the social security system.

Booking a GP’s appointment can be as simple as phoning up your friendly neighbourhood GP, or using an online service such as Doctolib. 

It helps a lot, if you have a médecin traitant – an attending GP, who adds you (and your family, if they can) to their list of patients. 

READ ALSO Explained: How to register with a doctor in France

It is not always easy to find one. Some parts of the country are short of GPs, which means doctors’ lists can fill up very quickly. But it is important that anyone who lives in France is registered with a named GP, especially if they have a carte vitale.

As well as being the main point of contact between patients and the medical profession in all its guises, it is financially responsible to be registered with a GP in France.

Reimbursement on consultations is typically 70 percent through the French healthcare system, but just 30 percent for anyone without a declared doctor. Meanwhile, top-up mutuelle health insurance companies usually require you to declare a médecin traitant and if you don’t, you may not be able to receive reimbursements on certain treatments.

Bear in mind, it is your responsibility to register with a local médecin traitant. But, even after you have done so, you can still make an appointment with any doctor, anywhere in France, and arrange specialist treatment, if you need it. 

READ ALSO 5 things to know about visiting a doctor in France

How do you go about making a GP appointment in France?

There are several options.

Some health centres – more often in larger towns and cities – operate a walk-in policy. But expect waits to be lengthy. Do not, however, assume that your GP operates a system like this.

You can phone for an appointment. This is another very common method. Your GP will have their own system for making appointments – which may even include something that looks, to the uninitiated, very much like a casual walk-in policy. 

Some may have an assistant to deal with booking appointments and other administration. Others may deal with appointments themselves, and may – for example – operate some sort of triage system based on voice messages from patients. 

What about online booking systems?

And many practitioners are now attached to websites, such as Doctolib. As of 2023, about half of all GP appointments in France were made using Doctolib.

READ ALSO How to use: French medical website Doctolib

Be aware that other online booking systems are available. Doctolib is one of the best known, but your GP may be attached to another system, like the health ministry approved site ‘LeMedecin.Fr’.

This website also has a feature where you can take an immediate online consultation with whatever doctor is available at that moment. By clicking ‘Consultez en vidéo maintenant’ you will be connected to the next doctor who is free. This option may involve an additional charge between €5-10 on top of the price of the consultation, and you will be expected to pay when booking.

If you have any trouble with either of these websites, you can go through the list of registered generalists per département on the ‘Ameli’ website. If you use this option, you will need to call the doctor to see if they are open or available for appointments.

In terms of wait times, online systems have helped to significantly reduce the delay between booking and getting an appointment.

According to a 2023 study by Doctolib, about half of all GP appointments were available within three days from the time of booking on their platform.

Similarly, you can use online platforms to check the medical professional’s qualifications and languages spoken, as well as filter based on the doctor’s English abilities. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt because not every medical professional with English listed on their Doctolib page speaks fluent English. 

An increasing number of doctorsoffer video consultations, known as télémédecine in France. This allows professionals – particularly those in more rural areas – to diagnose less serious conditions remotely. This type of consultation is usually only available from those medical practices that are attached to online booking systems. 

Some pharmacies have also begun offering walk-in télémedicine consults, using ‘Medadom’ machines. More information here.

What about specialists?

In France, you book your own consultations with specialists, even if you are referred by a doctor (your GP may offer a recommendation, but won’t always). The good news is that many specialists do use online booking services. Those that do not usually have assistants to take care of the appointments.

READ ALSO: Urgent care: How to get non-emergency medical treatment in France

SHOW COMMENTS