In 2021, 9.4 million teleconsultations of general medicine were carried out at a private practitioner and 1.1 million in health centers, according to a study on teleconsultations carried out by the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES). Private general practitioners carried out 13.5 million remote consultations in 2020 (year of the two lockdowns) and 9.4 million in 2021 against 80,000 in 2019.
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Teleconsultation: definition
According to the Health Insurance, "Teleconsultation is a remote consultation of a patient by a doctor (general practitioner or any other medical specialty), the patient may or may not be assisted on this occasion by another health professional (example: doctor, nurse, pharmacist ...). " Teleconsultation is an ideal way to facilitate citizens' access to care throughout the country, including in areas where there are few health professionals!
Any doctor can offer you a teleconsultation, whatever his specialty, his sector of practice or his place of practice, in town or in a health establishment (city practice, multi-professional health home, health center, nursing home, hospital, clinic ...). It can be carried out anywhere in metropolitan France and in the overseas departments and regions (Drom) as well as in Mayotte.
Is there a difference in price?
The price of a teleconsultation or a traditional consultation depends on the specialty and the sector of practice of the doctor or the medical act provided. The price of a consultation with a general practitioner in sector 1 ("Sécu" tariff called "opposable", without exceeding fees, applied by 94% of general practitioners) is 25 euros and 30 euros for children under 6 years old since 2017. On the other hand, it is necessary to add a travel surcharge of 10 € for home visits (and more depending on the time and day. On Sundays and public holidays, a consultation is indeed increased by € 22.60.)
In sector 2, the situation varies according to the doctor is a member of the Optam (agreement between the contracted doctors and the health insurance which authorizes supervised fee overruns) or not. Is your doctor a member? The amount of any fee overruns remains your responsibility. The consultation can be more than 25 €, at a general practitioner or a specialist, but the basis of reimbursement will be 25 €.
In the end, you will be reimbursed 16.50 euros. Doctors who are not members of Optam can freely set their rates and practice fee overruns of their choice. Based on the €23 refund, you will be refunded €15.10, once the €1 flat rate has been deducted. And this reimbursement remains the same, whether the consultation cost 25 €, 30 € or 50 €. For a complex consultation, at a specialist costs 46 euros and 60 euros very complex at a specialist.
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What is the support of a teleconsultation?
Since September 2018, teleconsultation is reimbursed up to 70% by social security (excluding excess fees in sector 2), the remaining 30% can be covered by the complementary health or your mutual. For a general practitioner in sector 1, you will therefore be reimbursed 16.50 euros (once deducted the flat-rate contribution that remains your responsibility for each consultation or medical act, set at 1 €), corresponding to 70% of the consultation billed 25 euros. The mutual insurance company will reimburse you the remaining 7.50 euros, corresponding to the 30%, taking the entire co-payment at its expense. The reimbursement levels of your health expenses are expressed as percentages by the mutual. Immerse yourself in your warranty table to discover them.