In practice

Getting an appointment — and being understood.

As a private patient you are usually seen sooner. The harder part is often a different one: finding a practice where you can hold the conversation without interpreting.

Booking

Where you actually get an appointment

Doctolib

The largest booking portal in Germany. You can filter by specialism, by location — and by the languages spoken. That language filter is the most useful part and the one most often overlooked.

doctolib.de

Jameda

A review portal with a booking function. Strong if you are looking for a specialist and want to know beforehand how others found the practice. Read reviews with care — they are rarely representative.

jameda.de

Simply call

Many German practices still prefer to give out appointments by phone. Between eight and ten in the morning you are most likely to get through. Say right at the start: “I have private health insurance.”

Empfang einer Arztpraxis mit freundlicher Mitarbeiterin — **At the reception desk**“Ich bin privatversichert.” That one sentence decides which fee schedule applies.

Language

Finding Arabic- or English-speaking practices

There are considerably more Arabic-speaking doctors in Germany than a search would suggest. You only have to know where to filter.

01 Use the language filter on Doctolib Enter specialism and location, then open “Spoken languages” in the filters and select Arabic or English. The filter only appears after the first search — which is why it is so often overlooked.

02 Ask your insurer Private insurers keep lists of doctors and will name practices in your area that speak particular languages on request. This service is included in your premium and is barely used.

03 Head for university hospitals Outpatient departments at university hospitals in larger cities have multilingual staff, often including Arabic. For complex cases a good address in any event.

04 Ask me After twenty years in the region I know a good number of practices in Ostwestfalen-Lippe personally. If you live nearby, save yourself the search and simply call.

What you are entitled to as a private patient

Say when you call that you have private insurance. This is not a matter of status but of billing: for privately insured patients the medical fee schedule (Gebührenordnung für Ärzte) applies, for publicly insured patients a different system. The practice needs to know in order to schedule the appointment correctly.

Appointments often within days rather than weeks
Direct access to specialists, without a referral — unless your tariff requires you to see a GP first
Treatment by the senior consultant and a single or two-bed room in hospital, depending on tariff
Free choice of hospital, including private clinics

When it is urgent

112 Emergency number Life-threatening emergencies, fire service, ambulance. Around the clock, in English too. 116 117 Out-of-hours medical service Urgent but not life-threatening — evenings, weekends and public holidays.

And afterwards?

After the appointment the invoice arrives at your home. How to submit it and what can go wrong is set out in the guide to submitting invoices.