Choose your attending doctor

Proposed by Comité de la Démarche Accessible Updated on il y a 6 mois

The attending physician is the doctor who:

knows and takes care of your medical file
gives you an initial opinion for all your health questions
directs you to a specialist doctor if necessary.

It is important to declare a attending physician to Health Insurance from the age of 16. This allows you to have better medical monitoring and to be well reimbursed for your health expenses.

This is why you should first see your doctor before making an appointment with a specialist or undergoing any health tests.

You are free to choose your own doctor. It is advisable to choose a doctor you trust and who knows you well.

You do not need to declare a treating physician if you receive state medical aid (AME).

It is not mandatory to choose a doctor near your home, but it is better to be able to see him easily.

Family members may have the same or different primary care physicians. In all cases, each family member must register their doctor separately.

How to do it?

Generally, the attending physician is a general practitioner. But they can also be a specialist, a doctor in a hospital, or a doctor in a health center.

Sometimes you have to contact several doctors before finding one who agrees to become your primary care physician.

Search for a doctor on the Internet

If you don't know any doctor, you can:

search on Doctolib for doctors available near you who specify that they accept new patients (on the doctor's presentation page, top right)
Search the French National Health Insurance health directory. This is a list of all doctors in France. You should contact doctors near you and ask if they are taking new patients.

> Read: the Réfugies.info fact sheet "Make a medical appointment on Doctolib"

Ask for advice

Don't hesitate to ask for advice from those around you (family, neighbors, friends, etc.) or at a local pharmacy; they can recommend doctors.

Call health facilities

You can also contact a doctor's office or health center near you by phone to ask if they are accepting new patients.

Your doctor has the right to refuse this role as your primary care physician. You can then change doctors and choose another one.

The easiest way to declare an attending physician is to do so in his office, during a consultation.

Ask the doctor to make the declaration, he/she will take care of everything. You just have to give him/her your vital card. Your declaration of choice of attending physician will be registered immediately by your health insurance fund.

If you have not yet received your vital card or if you are waiting for your final social security number, you can still declare your attending physician to the Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie, by filling out a form during your first medical visit. You can ask your doctor for this form. Then you must send it by mail to your Primary Health Insurance Fund or drop it in the mailbox.

To find the address of your Primary Health Insurance Fund, visit ameli.fr and enter your postal code, then find the address in the "Addresses and contacts" section.

What happens next?

You are free to change your treating physician without justification, at any time, without notifying the previous treating physician.

You simply need to make a new declaration to record the change of treating physician (see step 2).

If you are unable to find a primary care physician, you can contact a territorial coordinated organization.

It is a group of several doctors who can offer online medical appointments and help in finding a primary care physician near you.

To see if there is a territorial organization near you: go to the ameli.fr website and click on "Near you" at the bottom of the page.

If your health insurance fund is not already selected when you arrive on the page, click "Choose" (next to the menu or in the menu). Then, enter your postal code and click "VALIDATE" and "CONFIRM."

Please note that in some departments, there is no territorial coordinated organization yet. If there isn't one in your area, you can contact your CPAM (Health Insurance Fund) for assistance.

In case of emergency or if your primary care physician is not available, it is possible to make an appointment with another physician.

But you may be reimbursed less (the reimbursement for the consultation will be lower, so it will cost you more).