In around ten years, Doctolib has become a key player in health. The medical appointment booking platform has 50 million registered users and has a near-monopoly in the country. A position strengthened during the Covid crisis when the platform, which worked hand in hand with the government, was popular for video consultations.
But this predominance of a private company in the world of health regularly worries professionals. Latest episode to date, the launch of the new tab called “Health” is causing a stir even within the ministry, indicates The World.
The Doctolib Health area is worrying.
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In competition with My health space
This new feature, presented on November 20 in West France and which is to come into force in 2025 and must consolidate a patient's health information and “facilitate exchanges” with health professionals.
Problem is, this tool is accused of directly competing with “My health space”, the digital health record set up by Health Insurance in 2022 and which brings together all the documents and prescriptions for each patient.
Used by 15 million French people, this tool should not suffer from competition. “The reference place for hosting health data is the public service, with “my health space” […] and there is a real ambiguity in proposing another”worries Thomas Fatôme, the general director of Health Insurance, in the evening daily.
What worries Thomas Fatôme, like many professionals, is the risk of duplication between two almost identical services. And that where applicable, users prioritize the private platform, with the confidentiality risks that this could imply.
Privatize the health record
No way “to privatize the digital health record”defended the boss of Doctolib, Stanislas Niox-Chateau, who added “participate [r] actively in the development of “My health space” since its launch ».
Explanations which were not convincing and, according to our colleagues, a forum was circulated among doctors' unions and patient associations, pointing out the “financialization of our health system” and the risk of « privatisation » of the digital health record.
A text which would come from the Digital Health Directorate, a department of the ministry. A practice which questions Doctolib which is strangled by the fact that the text emanates from“a supervisory authority, the one which certifies that we comply with all the rules regarding data protection », according to Stanislas Niox-Chateau.
A delicate question that the Ministry of Health is invited to clarify.
