How telehealth simplifies access to healthcare
Medically reviewed by: Dr Nikolas Kousouris, General / Family Physician
Most people who put off seeing a doctor are not being careless. They are working, they live an hour from the nearest practice, they cannot leave a small child, or the surgery closed at two. Telehealth removes the part of healthcare that has nothing to do with medicine: getting there.
The barriers that stop people seeing a doctor
Greece has good doctors and a functioning health system. What it also has is geography — hundreds of inhabited islands, mountain villages, and a population that concentrates in two cities while spreading thinly everywhere else.
Add ordinary life on top of that: fixed working hours, school runs, elderly parents, a practice that opens when you are at work. The obstacle is rarely the medicine. It is the distance, the timing, or both.
Distance: islands and rural areas
If you live on a small island, "seeing a doctor" can mean a ferry, a day off work, and an overnight stay. In a mountain village it can mean a long drive on bad roads in winter.
A video consultation collapses that to the time the consultation itself takes. The doctor is the same doctor whether you are in Kolonaki or on Amorgos, and the assessment is the same assessment.
Time: work, school, opening hours
Many practices are open exactly when most people cannot get there. Booking often means losing half a day.
With an appointment on your phone you can be seen between meetings, after the school run, or in the evening when the children are asleep. Nothing is lost to travelling or waiting.
Mobility: older people and limited movement
For someone who finds walking difficult, uses a stick, or depends on a relative for lifts, every appointment is a logistical exercise. Some are simply skipped.
A consultation at home removes the journey entirely. A family member can sit in and help with the details if that is useful.
Parents with young children
Taking a feverish toddler to a waiting room is unpleasant for everyone and rarely improves matters. Doing it with a second child in tow is worse.
Parents can book for a child in the family, with the child present alongside a parent or guardian. You can show the doctor a rash or how the child is breathing without leaving the sofa.
Living with a long-term condition
Blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid, asthma, allergies — conditions that are stable but need a conversation from time to time. Those conversations do not require a waiting room.
A remote consultation lets you review how things are going, discuss your current treatment, and decide together whether anything needs to change. Where new tests are appropriate, the doctor can issue a referral.
Visitors and people without an AMKA
If you are not registered with the Greek public health system, working out where to go is a barrier of its own. A private consultation is available without an AMKA number, in English, from wherever you are staying. For visitors specifically, the article on seeing an English-speaking doctor covers this in more detail.
How DocNow works
- Download the DocNow app on your phone or tablet.
- Create an account and see which doctors are available.
- Choose a time and join the video consultation from the app.
Each consultation is scheduled for 15 minutes and costs a flat €20, with no subscription and no hidden charges. Payment is by card inside the app, processed by Viva. What an online doctor can and cannot do is set out in this article.
Where in-person care is still needed
Telehealth removes barriers; it does not replace every kind of care. A doctor cannot examine you by hand, listen to your chest or take blood over video. Where those are needed, they will tell you and explain where to go — and often that guidance is itself the useful outcome.
Telemedicine also does not replace emergency care. If you experience severe chest pain, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, heavy bleeding, sudden weakness or difficulty speaking, call 112 immediately, or 166 for an ambulance in Greece.
Frequently asked questions
Does it work on an island? Yes. Anywhere in Greece with an internet connection.
Do I need an AMKA number? No. A private consultation is available without Greek public health insurance.
Can I book for an elderly parent? Yes, and a family member can be present to help.
Can I book for my child? Yes. A parent or guardian books and stays with the child during the consultation.
Getting to a doctor should not be the hardest part of seeing one. Download the DocNow app, book an appointment with an available doctor and talk through whatever is on your mind. They will assess you and explain the appropriate next step, at their clinical discretion.
Appointment availability depends on doctor availability at the time of booking.
The information above is provided exclusively for educational purposes and does not replace medical advice. Please consult your treating doctor to determine the most appropriate treatment plan for your individual needs.
