GeraClinic in Germany 2026 — Approbation, BfArM and the Doctolib Gap

Germany has an excellent public healthcare system — the Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung (GKV) — but weekday Hausarzt appointments in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg can still take 5 to 10 working days for non-urgent issues, and Facharzt (specialist) waits regularly hit two or three months. GeraClinic does not replace your Hausarzt. It fills the same narrow gap we fill in every country: things that cannot wait a week but do not warrant the Notaufnahme.

The German regulatory stack

Telemedicine in Germany has been explicitly legal since the Bundesärztekammer lifted the Fernbehandlungsverbot in 2018 (§7 Abs. 4 MBO-Ä). Since then the framework has tightened into a well-defined stack:

• Approbation — every consulting doctor holds a German medical licence granted by the Länder Approbationsbehörden, or an equivalent EU/EEA licence recognised by Germany under Directive 2005/36/EC.
• KBV & Bundesärztekammer (BÄK) — the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung and the federal medical association set the professional standards for telemedicine, including the Musterberufsordnung §7(4) framework for remote treatment.
• BfArM (Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte) — authorises medicines we prescribe and, via DiGA, the digital-health-app framework. E-prescriptions (E-Rezept) flow through the gematik telematics infrastructure to any apotheke in Germany.
• DSGVO + BDSG — patient data is processed strictly under the Datenschutz- Grundverordnung and the Bundesdatenschutzgesetz. Our Verzeichnis von Verarbeitungstätigkeiten (Art. 30) is maintained and available on request to the Landesdatenschutzbehörden.
• PatDSG & Patientenrechtegesetz — patient rights (§630 BGB) including documentation and right to copies apply to every GeraClinic consultation.

Pricing in Euro

• Einzelsprechstunde: €19 per 15-minute Videosprechstunde
• GeraClinic Plus: €29/month unlimited consultations, chat, Folgerezepte
• Familientarif: €49/month for up to 5 household members
• Krankschreibung (AU): €12 as a follow-up to a consultation
• Überweisung zum Facharzt (private): €15

Prices include 19% MwSt. where applicable. Arzneimittel are dispensed at any German Apotheke via E-Rezept; typical Rezeptgebühr is €5 depending on your Krankenkasse status. Private Krankenversicherung (PKV) members can submit our receipt for Erstattung.

Payment rails for Germany

German consumers prefer bank-led payments over cards — card acceptance is still markedly lower than in the UK or US. We support what people in Germany actually use:

• SEPA Instant / SEPA Lastschrift — default for monthly subscribers
• PayPal — the most-used wallet in Germany
• Klarna — Rechnung, Sofortüberweisung, Ratenzahlung
• Visa / Mastercard — accepted but not default
• giropay — where the customer's bank still supports it

Honest comparison with German alternatives

• Doctolib — the dominant appointment-booking platform in Germany. If your Hausarzt is on Doctolib and can see you tomorrow, use it. We are the right answer when they cannot.
• TeleClinic (Zur Rose Group) — long-established German telemedicine provider, consultation typically €29–45 private.
• Kry / Livi (Germany) — Swedish-origin telehealth with operations in Germany. Cash prices usually €25–40.
• ZAVA (formerly DrEd) — Berlin-based online doctor service, strong on repeat prescriptions.
• GeraClinic — €19 pay-per-visit or €29/month unlimited, English and German, plus Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian and Polish for the large migrant populations in Berlin, NRW and Bavaria.

Real German use case — a Munich student

A Masters student in Schwabing develops a sinus infection on Friday evening. Her Hausarzt in Maxvorstadt has no slots until Wednesday and the Bereitschaftsdienst queue is hours long. She books a 20:30 Videosprechstunde on GeraClinic, the doctor issues an E-Rezept for a 5-day antibiotic, and she collects it at the Apotheke on Leopoldstraße at 21:15. Total cost: €19 plus €5 Rezeptgebühr. AU-Bescheinigung for Monday issued as a follow-up — uploaded directly to the Krankenkasse via the eAU interface.

What we cannot do in Germany

• Bill your GKV (gesetzliche Krankenkasse) directly — we are a private service. PKV members can submit for reimbursement.
• Prescribe Betäubungsmittel (narcotics under the BtMG) remotely — these require an in-person pathway.
• Handle emergencies — for chest pain, stroke, severe breathing difficulty, call 112 or the ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst on 116 117.
• Replace your Hausarzt for chronic-disease management that requires Disease-Management-Programme (DMP).

Data, DSGVO and your rights

GeraClinic processes patient data on EU-resident, encrypted infrastructure. Your DSGVO rights (Auskunft Art. 15, Berichtigung Art. 16, Löschung Art. 17, Datenübertragbarkeit Art. 20, Widerspruch Art. 21) can be exercised at [email protected] — we respond within the statutory one-month period. Our Datenschutzbeauftragter and the competent Aufsichtsbehörde (depending on your Bundesland) are listed in our Datenschutzerklärung.

Cities where GeraClinic is used most

Berlin (Mitte, Neukölln, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg), Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf account for the bulk of German consultations. We see higher per-capita usage in ländlichen Regionen of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg, where Fachärzte are far apart.

Related Gera services in Germany

• GeraCompliance — DSGVO/BDSG compliance tooling for German SMEs, including Verarbeitungsverzeichnis and Auftragsverarbeitung (AVV) templates
• PrivacyGuard — browser extension that blocks ad trackers in line with TTDSG and DSGVO defaults
• Gera Prime — priority booking on GeraClinic plus benefits on GeraEats and GeraMarket in Germany