Recommendations from the High Authority of Health, reimbursement from Social Security… everything you need to know about teleconsultation by videoconference

La téléconsultation : par visio, sinon rien !

Afin d’intégrer la téléconsultation de manière cohérente dans le parcours de soins, conformément aux préconisations de la Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), mais également pour que le patient soit remboursé par la sécurité sociale, celle-ci doit impérativement s'effectuer par visioconférence.

The teleconsultation is a consultation in its own right. It is, therefore, very regulated. The Public Health Code governs its practice. These regulatory texts establish the conditions and modalities allowing remote consultations to be carried out between a doctor and a patient. "The regulations strictly delimit teleconsultation as a remote consultation carried out by a doctor for the benefit of a patient, specifies Maître Lina Williatte, lawyer and law professor, co-founder of the Digital Health and Telehealth Think Tank, but she does not specify the method of implementation, whether by telephone or video. "

Social Security gets involved…

However, the condition of carrying out the teleconsultation by videoconference was then introduced by Social Security during the negotiations linked "to the agreement governing relations between private doctors and health insurance", and defined in decrees of 2018*. It is stipulated in this agreement that for the teleconsultation to be covered, and therefore reimbursed to the patient, it must be carried out by videoconference.

… the High Authority of Health also

This videoconferencing requirement has been shared by the High Authority of Health since 2019, which has issued directives detailing good teleconsultation practices. Currently, to benefit from reimbursement and comply with HAS good practices, a teleconsultation must take place by videoconference. This requirement aims to ensure the quality of teleconsultation, making it compliant with the standards set by the HAS.

Carrying out a teleconsultation by telephone is therefore not illegal but contrary to good practices decreed by the HAS and does not give rise to reimbursement by social security.

And if videoconferencing is not possible ?

If it is impossible to hold a videoconference, face-to-face consultation should be preferred.

Note: teleconsultation companies have recently been recognized as healthcare providers. These for-profit companies having developed teleconsultation services have just obtained official status. Since the beginning of 2024, companies allowing patients to consult a doctor remotely must obtain approval proving that they provide a quality service.

*Order of August 1, 2018 approving amendment n° 6 to the national convention organizing relations between private doctors and health insurance signed on August 25, 2016.