Because of Corona and flu: Telephone sick leave extended

The telephone sick note for mild respiratory infections has been extended until the end of March 2023. This means that patients with minor infections do not have to come to the doctor’s office.

In view of the corona crisis and the flu season, telephone sick leave without a visit to the practice will remain possible until the end of March 2023. The joint federal committee of doctors, health insurance companies and clinics decided to extend a special regulation that initially ran until the end of November. A sick note issued by telephone is valid for up to seven days. It can be extended once for up to a further seven days.

“We’re approaching cold and flu season”

The Federal Joint Committee explained that it is currently difficult to predict how the number of cases of corona sufferers in hospitals will develop in the coming months. “To make matters worse, we are facing the cold and flu season,” said Chairman Josef Hecken. This speaks for relying on safety for patients and the practice staff. Hecken pointed out above all to the chronically ill, who had to go to the doctor’s office more often than others and had to be particularly protected from avoidable infections.

With sick leave over the phone, practices still have an easy-to-implement option to differentiate between mild and severe cases of illness and to avoid full waiting rooms. Sick leave by telephone was first introduced in spring 2020 due to Corona and has already been extended several times.