Telephone sick leave possible until the end of March 2023

In view of the corona crisis and the flu season, sick leave due to cold symptoms will remain possible until the end of March 2023, even by telephone and without visiting the practice. The joint federal committee of doctors, health insurance companies and clinics decided on Thursday to extend a special regulation that initially ran until the end of November.

Insured persons can continue to receive certificates of incapacity for work due to minor respiratory diseases for up to seven days after a telephone survey by doctors. These can also be extended for up to seven calendar days.

The Federal Joint Committee explained that it is currently difficult to predict how the number of cases of corona sufferers in hospitals will develop in the coming months. "To make matters worse: We are facing the cold and flu season," said Chairman Josef Hecken. This speaks for relying on safety for patients and the practice staff.

Hecken pointed out above all to the chronically ill, who had to go to the doctor's office more often than others and had to be particularly protected from avoidable infections. With sick leave over the phone, practices would still have an easy-to-implement option to differentiate between mild and severe cases of illness and to avoid full waiting rooms.