“These consultations are being reimbursed by the National Health Fund,” the company stated in a press release on 19 March.

When booking a doctor’s appointment, patients can opt for a video consultation instead of an in-office visit and will receive a weblink to use for the consultation, Doctena said.

“This Friday, Doctena will activate close to a 100 doctors who will be available to offer video consultations for patients,” according to Patrick Kersten, co-founder and CEO.

The social security ministry said on 16 March that telemedicine appointments would begin to be covered by the National Health Fund (CNS) due to the covid-19 outbreak.

Doctena started in 2013 and operates in the Benelux countries, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The company claimed to be “used by over 10,000 medical staff” and to handle 1.5m appointment bookings per month.