Enable teleconsultation in your Doctolib professional account, document your role as data controller, and run a full test call before your first patient. These actions put you on the right footing with French rules and with the platform. The sections below explain the checks behind each one, from regulation to billing to troubleshooting.
Key Takeaways
To offer teleconsultation in France, practitioners must comply with strict regulations, set up their platform correctly, ensure reliable technology, and document patient consent properly.
Platform setupCreate a dedicated teleconsultation appointment type, set availability, and configure cancellation policies accurately.Technology reliabilityUse a recent device and browser, prefer wired internet, and perform tests before consultations.Booking processCapture patient’s voluntary choice via a clear checkbox and store consent timestamps for legal traceability.Outsourcing supportConsider outsourcing call and booking management to reduce missed appointments and ensure consistency.
| Point | Details | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulatory compliance | Practitioners must act as data controllers, document data security, and ensure platform meets health data standards. | ||
Table of Contents
- What regulatory checks should you complete before offering teleconsultation?
- How do you enable teleconsultation in your Doctolib account?
- What device, network and security setup keeps video consultations reliable?
- How do you design the booking flow and capture the patient’s free choice?
- Where do you check billing codes and reimbursement rules?
- How do you keep calendars synchronized across tools?
- What should your go-live checklist include?
- What do you do when a session fails or a patient cannot join?
- When does outsourcing calls and booking help your teleconsultations?
- How do we support Doctolib teleconsultation workflows?
- FAQ
- Sources
What regulatory checks should you complete before offering teleconsultation?
Teleconsultation in France must fit the coordinated care pathway, so balance in-person and remote consultations to keep follow-up consistent and to support access to care across territories. Before you open a single slot, confirm the following:
- You remain the data controller. CNIL’s practical guide asks you to document the security of patient data processing, keep a register of processing activities, and run a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) when necessary.
- The platform acts as your sub-processor, under a contract stating that it processes data only on your instructions, with certified health data hosting (HDS) where required.
- The platform meets the ANS referential v1.5.1 on interoperability, security and ethics. A staged certification calendar applies to teleconsultation systems.
- Optional paid services are presented clearly, and no patient is pressured into them.
If you need to prepare the documentation side, our guide to call privacy impact assessments in France walks through the same logic.
How do you enable teleconsultation in your Doctolib account?
Doctolib’s onboarding screens change over time, so treat the labels below as a path to verify rather than a fixed script.
- Join Doctolib or convert your existing profile, then upload or verify the professional credentials requested at registration.
- Open the settings of your professional dashboard and activate the video consultation option for your practice.
- Create a dedicated appointment type for teleconsultation, separate from in-office visits.
- Set your availability for that appointment type, then choose a realistic appointment length.
- Define your cancellation settings so patients know the rules before they book.
- Configure the booking flow so the patient’s free choice is captured and any optional service is clearly identifiable as optional.
Before you save, confirm that availability, duration and cancellation rules match what you intend to offer. A mismatch here is the most common source of confusion later, because patients see only what you configure.
What device, network and security setup keeps video consultations reliable?
Reliability starts with the basics, and security follows the same discipline.
- Use a recent browser or the mobile app on a device with a working camera and microphone. A headset reduces echo.
- Prefer a wired connection to Wi-Fi, and test your speed before each session block.
- Give each staff member a unique identifier and only the permissions their role requires. CNIL’s telemedicine guidance recommends strong authentication, including two-factor options, plus logging and incident tracing.
- Confirm where your data is hosted and stored, and check that hosting and subcontracting meet the legal requirements for health data. Our HDS and data checklist for French clinics covers the contractual points.
- Keep a quick fix list at hand: reload the page, switch browser, close background applications.
Pro Tip: Run your speed test and a camera check at the same hour you will see patients, because evening network congestion often differs from your morning test.
How do you design the booking flow and capture the patient’s free choice?
ANS guidance asks you to record that the patient chose teleconsultation freely, under reference ETH.04. A checkbox in the booking flow is a practical way to show the choice was voluntary and traced.
- Add a clear checkbox or prompt confirming the patient chose video over an in-person visit.
- Keep optional services separate from the core act, so the consultation itself stays accessible without them.
- Send short joining instructions with the confirmation, plus a phone number to use if the link fails.
- Store the consent timestamp with the appointment metadata, so you can retrieve it when needed.
The ANS asks for traceable evidence that the patient’s choice was free. A simple checkbox in the booking flow is a practical way to provide it, per the ANS consent guidance.
Our overview of the GDPR steps French clinics must take for medical calls covers the recordkeeping side in more depth.
Where do you check billing codes and reimbursement rules?
Billing is where small errors cost the most. Teleconsultation has its own codes and tariffs, and the AMELI telemedicine circular and arbitration annex sets out the codes, the amounts that differ by specialty and patient category, and the rules on incompatible majorations. Always read the current tables rather than relying on memory or a colleague’s recollection.
- Look up the exact code and rate for your specialty and for the patient’s category before you bill.
- Check whether the case is one where teleconsultation does not apply.
- Never combine mutually exclusive codes or majorations in one claim.
- Keep a clear record of the act, its timestamp, and any communication needed to support the claim.
How do you keep calendars synchronized across tools?
The guiding principle is a single source of truth. Choose one primary calendar for availability and sync every secondary tool to it, so a slot booked in one place disappears everywhere else.
- Use one primary calendar and sync secondary tools to it. Our guide to CalenDoc integration for French clinics shows a typical workflow.
- Block in-office and teleconsultation slots distinctly, and set availability per practitioner in multi-provider practices.
- Verify data flows and permissions when you connect tools, so patient information stays protected.
National expectations around interoperability, including the Dossier Médical Partagé and the Identité Nationale de Santé, are summarized on G_NIUS.
What should your go-live checklist include?
Complete these steps in order before your first patient.
- Run a full test consultation end to end, using the patient link, and note the result.
- Assign roles: who handles technical help, who triages incoming calls, and who receives escalations.
- Confirm where consent and consultation metadata are stored.
- Write down the fallback procedure for switching to phone or an in-person visit.
Pro Tip: Ask a colleague or relative to play the patient on a different device and network than yours. A test from your own desk hides most real-world failures.
What do you do when a session fails or a patient cannot join?
Most failures have quick fixes, and your staff should know them by heart.
- If audio or video fails, ask the patient to reload, switch browser, or join from the mobile app, and keep a phone fallback ready.
- If bandwidth is poor, suggest a wired connection, closing background applications, or rescheduling to a time with better connectivity.
- If the appointment link is missing, check that the SMS or email was delivered, resend it, and help the patient by phone if care cannot wait.
- Before you contact Doctolib support, collect the session ID, timestamps and any error messages to speed up resolution.
When does outsourcing calls and booking help your teleconsultations?
Teleconsultation succeeds or fails on small operational details: a patient who never received the link, a slot booked twice, a call left unanswered in the evening. Outsourcing can reduce missed appointments and keep patient instructions consistent. Before you commit, verify that the vendor can sync your calendars, accepts sub-processor clauses, and understands HDS. Run a pilot with clear indicators, such as no-show rates and successful session starts.
— Rudolph Thierry
How do we support Doctolib teleconsultation workflows?
We take the phone side of your teleconsultation off your desk. Our remote medical secretariat answers patients, our call and appointment management keeps your calendar clean, and our urgent appointment triage routes clinical concerns quickly. We sync with your calendars and apply a strict confidentiality focus for French practices. Contact us to discuss your practice’s needs.
This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified doctor. Consult a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.
FAQ
What does Doctolib do?
Doctolib is an online platform where patients book appointments with healthcare professionals, and where practitioners manage their calendars and, once the option is activated, conduct video consultations. You control the settings from your professional account.
How do you use Doctolib for teleconsultation?
Activate the video consultation option in your professional dashboard, create a dedicated appointment type, set your availability, and add a patient choice prompt to the booking flow. Then run a test call with a colleague before your first patient.
Is teleconsultation allowed in France for every patient?
Teleconsultation must fit the coordinated care pathway, so AMELI asks practitioners to balance remote and in-person visits. Some cases are not suited to video, so check the current AMELI rules for your specialty.
Who is responsible for patient data during a teleconsultation?
You are the data controller, and the platform acts as your sub-processor under a contract. CNIL’s guide asks you to keep a register of processing activities and to run a DPIA when necessary.
Sources
- Ameli
- Guide pratique sur la protection des données personnelles
- Une nouvelle version opposable du Référentiel d’interopérabilité, de sécurité et d’éthique des SI de téléconsultation (v1.5.1) | Agence du Numérique en Santé
- Télémédecine
