FAQ

OnlineDoctor is an innovative digital platform that allows you to have a skin problem assessed quickly, regardless of location and at low cost by an independent specialist licensed in Switzerland. OnlineDoctor is suitable for the assessment of all types of skin problems (e.g. rash, eczema, birthmark).

OnlineDoctor is a service of OnlineDoctor AG, based in Switzerland. OnlineDoctor is a Swiss product developed with the help of leading dermatologists. You can find more information about the founders of OnlineDoctor here.

OnlineDoctor is available to users in German, French, Italian and English. The language skills are indicated accordingly on the OnlineDoctor page of the dermatologist.

OnlineDoctor generally represents a supplementary service to the personal visit to the practice. Exclusive consultation or treatment via communication media is permitted in individual cases if this is medically justifiable and the required medical care is maintained, in particular by the way in which the findings are ascertained, consultation, treatment and documentation are carried out. The dermatologist will inform you if (in addition) a personal on-site visit is necessary.

Attention: OnlineDoctor is NOT suitable for acute health problems such as sudden severe symptoms. We explicitly advise you to immediately alert regional emergency care in life-threatening situations.

Here you will find a selection and description of the advantages that OnlineDoctor offers you.

All our dermatologists are licensed in Switzerland and have many years of practical experience. They have been carefully selected to ensure the highest quality of advice for you.

The following pharmacies offer OnlineDoctor. By clicking on the links of our partner pharmacies, you can find out in which pharmacies you can use OnlineDoctor.

The one-off costs amount to CHF 55 incl. VAT. You will receive an initial specialist assessment (or second opinion) from OnlineDoctor within 48 hours, including a recommendation for action regarding your skin problem. If the dermatologist recommends an additional visit to the practice, the visit and the consultation/treatment carried out there are expressly not included in the costs.

OnlineDoctor works with the largest health insurance companies in Switzerland. If you have health insurance with one of the following insurers, you can benefit from reduced rates:

• CSS-insured persons can take advantage of the service at reduced costs. With the code CSS49 you will receive a discount of CHF 6. If you have the supplementary outpatient insurance myFlex? Class outpatient supplementary insurance, then you can have 90% of the cost of the online skin check reimbursed by CSS.
• Groupe Mutuel policyholder receive a CHF 6 discount with the code GM2022. 
• SWICA policyholders also receive a CHF 6 discount with the code SWICA22.
• Sympany policyholders with supplementary outpatient insurance (plus or premium) will be reimbursed CHF 11 upon presentation of the invoice (further information can be found below in this FAQ).
• ÖKK-insured persons also receive the online skin check at a reduced price. With the code OEKK49 you will receive a discount of CHF 6.

Once you have received the email with the download link to your recommended course of action, the invoice can be downloaded directly below the medical assessment.

In most cases, you will receive a response from the dermatologist of your choice within a few hours. In case of high demand, there is a maximum waiting time of 48 hours. If you have not received a reply after 48 hours, please check your spam folder first.

From time to time, the e-mail with your recommendation for action may end up there. Otherwise, please contact support@onlinedoctor.ch. We will take care of your case as soon as possible.

The time required for a request depends on the amount of information you would like to provide to the dermatologist for the OnlineDoctor skin check. As a rule, the time required is between 5 and 7 minutes.

Yes, with OnlineDoctor you have a free choice of doctor. You can choose someone from all the dermatologists available on the platform.

If your personal dermatologist of choice has not yet joined OnlineDoctor, please send us a message with the name of the dermatologist to support@onlinedoctor.ch. We will contact him/her and provide information about OnlineDoctor. We will contact him/her and send information about OnlineDoctor.

After you have started an enquiry, you will be greeted by the digital chat assistant. This will help you answer all the relevant questions that are important for the dermatologist to assess your skin problem.

To ensure the most accurate specialist assessment, you will be asked to upload 3 photos of your skin problem. It is best to use your smartphone to make your request, as this allows you to take and upload the pictures directly with your smartphone. The photos can be uploaded in the common file formats JPG and PNG. Uploading photos as PDF or Word documents is not possible.

As a user, you have the option of saving the recommendation for action locally as a PDF. If the recommendation is not saved within 6 weeks, it cannot be retrieved later. In this case, the request must be made again.

The recommended courses of action prepared by specialists are written in an easy-to-understand way and should answer all open questions. If the dermatologist needs additional information, he/she will contact you by telephone. Further questions from the patient are not foreseen. For a more detailed discussion, we recommend a personal visit to the dermatology practice.

We would like to protect your health data that you enter below. To do this, we use so-called 2-factor authentication to ensure that your request and the associated data can only be accessed by you. We will later send the corresponding activation code to your mobile phone number so that you can access your diagnosis and the recommended course of action. Your mobile phone number will not be passed on to third parties or used for advertising purposes. For legal reasons, we can only accept mobile phone numbers from the EU or the Schengen area.

The protection of patient data has the highest priority for us. Therefore, OnlineDoctor encrypts all data transmissions via SSL/TLS. To guarantee the greatest possible security, OnlineDoctor works with two-factor authentication – as known from e-banking. With this additional layer of security, we ensure that only you can access your personal specialist recommendation for action.

You can find further information in our privacy policy.

Only the dermatologist you have selected has access to the data and information you provide for the preparation of the specialist recommendation for action.

The data provided to OnlineDoctor will be used by the selected dermatologist to prepare a recommendation for action. In addition, OnlineDoctor uses this data in anonymised form for statistical purposes. Under no circumstances will the data be passed on to third parties.

Requests via OnlineDoctor can be made using any digital device such as a smartphone, tablet or even your desktop computer and an internet connection. In any case, you will need a mobile phone, as you will receive a 6-digit SMS code with which you can unlock and download the specialist doctor’s recommendation for action.

OnlineDoctor can be used via common browsers (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Safari). We expressly do not recommend the use of Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge, as error-free data transmission cannot always be guaranteed with these two browsers.

As a rule, the photo quality of current smartphones is sufficient to ensure a professional assessment of your skin condition. Please make sure that the photos of the skin problem are sharp and sufficiently illuminated. You should also take photos of the skin problem from different perspectives and distances.

OnlineDoctor is generally available to you 7 days a week throughout the year. However, it may happen that your desired dermatologist is on holiday and temporarily not available on the platform. In this case, you can simply select another available dermatologist for your request.

If you are resident in Switzerland and have a mobile phone number with +41 as the area code, you can use OnlineDoctor regardless of your location, even if you are travelling abroad. It is up to the user to find out about the specific conditions abroad (e.g. data security, telephone/subscription costs and roaming charges due to data volumes consumed). Unfortunately, mobile numbers with other dialling codes are not currently supported.

This should generally not be the case. Please check the spam folder of your e-mail inbox first. It may happen from time to time that the e-mail with your recommendation for action ends up there. If you still have not received a response by e-mail within 48 hours, please contact support@onlinedoctor.ch. We will take care of your case as soon as possible.

You can report defects, functional problems or complaints in connection with OnlineDoctor via the e-mail address: support@onlinedoctor.ch.

Our team will try to help you as quickly as possible. If there are technical problems with a request that are related to the browser used (e.g. Chrome, Safari, Firefox), please name the browser used (incl. version) in your e-mail.

OnlineDoctor can be used via common browsers (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Safari). We expressly do not recommend the use of Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge, as error-free data transmission cannot always be guaranteed with these two browsers.

OnlineDoctor is available to all Sympany policyholders with basic and/or supplementary insurance and who are Swiss residents.

No, the use of OnlineDoctor is a service offer.

Insured persons with an alternative insurance model must adhere to the contract provisions applicable to their model. But they can use OnlineDoctor as a supplement.

If your chosen OnlineDoctor dermatologist recommends an on-site consultation, you will need to visit your model doctor or practice with the recommended course of action you have received.

Your doctor will issue you with the necessary referral. Sympany’s alternative insurance models are casamed pharm, callmed 24, casamed hmo, casamed hausarzt, flexhelp24. The special conditions of the alternative insurance models are available at www.sympany.ch.

You can find details of your insurance model in mySympany (customer portal/app) or on the insurance policy. Alternatively, you can contact Sympany’s Customer Service by telephone: +41 58 262 42 00; Mon – Fri from 8 am to 5 pm.

https://my.sympany.ch/my.policy

OnlineDoctor AG, with its registered office in St. Gallen (CHE-288.196.802; support@onlinedoctor.ch, www.onlinedoctor.ch), is responsible for ensuring that OnlineDoctor complies with both the relevant legal requirements and the current state of technology and medicine.

The user is responsible for all actions that he takes for himself as well as for a third party.

The one-off costs are CHF 44* instead of 55 incl. VAT. You will receive a specialist’s initial assessment (or second opinion) including a recommendation for action within 48 hours of your request.

If the dermatologist also recommends a visit to his practice, the visit and the consultation/treatment given there are expressly not included in the costs. Depending on the provider, telephone/subscription costs may be incurred as part of the enquiry. The costs are to be borne by the customer.

* For Sympany policyholders with supplementary outpatient insurance (plus or premium)