Telemedicine is booming: This is how the French use the digital doctor's office!

Telemedicine is booming: This is how the French use the digital doctor's office!

Since the Covid pandemic five years ago, telemedicine has become increasingly popular in France. This development is evidenced by a recent study by Doctolib and France Inter, published ahead of the upcoming national conferences on telemedicine. The analysis, based on data from over 34,000 private healthcare professionals and 14,686 users, shows that five million teleconsultations were carried out in 2024 alone, representing 7.4% of the activity of doctors practicing telemedicine. A total of 100 million consultations were analyzed, of which psychiatry with 20.3% and general medicine with 8.1% had the highest proportions of teleconsultations. What is also exciting is the decline in the proportion of teleconsultations to 4.8% compared to 2022, which represents a decrease of 0.7%. Here radiofrance.fr report on this development.

Interestingly, the most common users of telemedicine are young: 27% of users are between the ages of 25 and 34. For those over 65, this proportion is only 5%. This not only shows a generational difference, but also that telemedicine is particularly widespread in urban areas. The managing director of Doctolib in France, Jean-Urbain Hubau, sees this form of medical care as an opportunity to shorten waiting times for doctor's appointments, especially in rural areas where access to medical professionals is often difficult.

The use of telemedicine in different disciplines

The study breaks down telemedicine use into five specialties: general medicine, pediatrics, dermatology, gynecology and psychiatry. Psychiatrists seem to be the frontrunners; 63% of Doctolib customers use teleconsultations. 42% of general practitioners and 46% of pediatricians also resort to this type of consultation. Among dermatologists, the rate is 29%, while 41% of gynecologists offer teleconsultations. Sudouest reports on this interesting diversity in the use of the discipline.

The efficiency and flexibility of telemedicine plays an essential role, especially given the dramatic shortage of family doctors in France. It is estimated that around 10% of the population does not have access to a primary care doctor. This creates a lot of pressure on providers and makes innovative solutions in telemedicine increasingly important. Doctors who offer teleconsultations have a larger number of patients: general practitioners see 37% more patients, while psychiatrists see an increase of 41%.

Federal support and new ideas for the future

In order to further promote the use of telemedicine, the government is planning the Assises de la Téléconsultation on June 27th to evaluate the regulatory framework and thus improve health measures. This is what the Telmedicon website tells us, which also points to other strategies, such as offering telemedicine practices at train stations in underserved regions. This infrastructure could allow patients to receive video consultations or provide blood samples, which could significantly increase accessibility.

Overall, the development of telemedicine in France shows that it has become an important part of modern healthcare. The fusion of traditional and digital healthcare offerings could lead to many innovations in the future and make it significantly easier for patients to access diagnosis and treatment.