You are sick and you want to make an appointment with a doctor? Great! In this article, we will see how to book a doctor in France. Let’s go!
📱 The Mobile App to Book an Appointment
In France, it is really easy to book an appointment with a doctor:
🌐 doctolib.fr
🔎 Find a doctor around you and book an appointment easily
🎥 Video consultation available
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Doctolib is the no. 1 platform for booking an appointment with a doctor in France. You will be able to see any type of doctor.
💰 The Cost of a Doctor in France
In France, doctors are affordable. Here is an idea of the cost:
| General practitioner (“médecin généraliste”) | 25€ or more |
| Ophthalmologist (“ophtalmologiste”) Vision control | 50€ or more |
| Dentist (“dentiste”) Descaling | 30€ or more |
🪪 What You Need to Bring
When you see a doctor, you will need to bring:
- 💰 Money: to pay the doctor. However, sometimes you won’t need to pay anything as the health insurance will pay directly the doctor: that is what we call the “Tiers-Payant”.
- 🪪 Carte Vitale: the French Health Insurance card to get reimbursed automatically by the French Healthcare system without any input from you.
Carte Vitale
⚠️ If you don’t have the “Carte Vitale”, when you pay a doctor, he will give you back a paper called “feuille de soins”, which is the proof to send by letter to the CPAM local branch, in order to get reimbursed from your medical expenses. However, it is tedious and time-consuming.
Feuille de soins
👨⚕️ Why Do I Need to Have a Dedicated General Practitioner?
In France, you need to declare a dedicated general practitioner called “médecin traitant” to the French healthcare system. It is usually a médecin généraliste”. Almost every time you want to see a specialized doctor (except dentists, ophtalmologists, etc), you will need to see the “médecin traitant” first, so he can give you a letter that redirects you to a specialist.
If you don’t declare him, or if you don’t see him first, you will be less reimbursed for your medical expenses.
In order to declare your “médecin traitant”, you will need to:
- Go to a general practitioner (“médecin généraliste”)
- Ask him to be your “médecin traitant”
- Give him your “carte Vitale”
- He will declare online to the French Healthcare system that he is your “médecin traitant” instantly.
You will be able to change your “médecin traitant” anytime.
💰 What is a Médecin Conventionné Secteur 1, 2, 3?
In France, doctors will choose between different types of pricing, from the least expensive (secteur 1) to the most expensive (secteur 3). The higher the number, the less reimbursed you are, so you will need complementary health insurance to be better reimbursed.
Conclusion
Now you know everything about booking an appointment with a doctor in France.
To see the guide about healthcare in France, you can check this article:
