Established during the pandemic in 2020, teleconsultations helped limit the spread of Covid-19. Although far fewer people use them today, they have still become an alternative to face-to-face consultations. But the end of the ministerial order which governs them and the absence, for the moment, of a new framework worries certain deputies.
In April 2020, in the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government introduced the possibility for doctors to receive their patients via teleconsultation. Responding to social distancing measures, it made it possible to limit the spread of the virus at a critical moment and was extended by the ministerial order of December 18, 2023. Entering into force on January 1 of this year, it is valid until until June 30.
The Minister of Health, Martine Deprez (CSV) recently declared that this order could not be extended and that a new, more solid framework, via a bill, was still in discussions. From July 1, teleconsultations will then find themselves without a legal basis. A situation which worries MP François Bausch (déi gréng) who wanted to ask the minister when this bill could be finalized and how many teleconsultations had been carried out since their introduction.
Martine Deprez recalled that negotiations were still ongoing and that no timetable could be announced for the moment. On the other hand, she was able to give the number and share of teleconsultations among doctors and dentists. It appears that teleconsultations were mainly used in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and have since seen a sharp decline even if several tens of thousands of people still use them.
If 1,683,759 consultations (normal, increased and special) took place in person in 2020, there were 259,647 teleconsultations, or 13% of all these acts. Their number then drops to 162,006 the following year (6% of consultations) and continues to decline to reach 63,382 teleconsultations in 2023 (2% of the total) compared to 3,035,169 face-to-face consultations.
A very small share among dentists
The gap is even greater among dentists, whose actions can rarely be performed remotely. If 1,250 teleconsultations still took place in 2020 (0.4% of the total), there will only be 9 in 2023.
Comparative figures are not available for other healthcare professionals. “Concerning midwives, speech therapists, dieticians and psychotherapists, the structure of their nomenclatures as well as the hybrid nature (in person or via teleconsultation) of certain acts in said nomenclatures do not allow such a comparison to be made,” specifies the ministry which however, notes 563 teleconsultations in 2020 among midwives compared to only 108 in 2023.
François Bausch also asked if a solution could not be found by July 1 since a platform dedicated to teleconsultations has been set up by e-Santé. But Martine Deprez affirms that her services are still analyzing the needs. The platform is also only used for a limited number of teleconsultations: only 324 in 2023. “The vast majority were carried out by other means of telecommunications. »
