Finding a doctor in Berlin

Before you start

• Health insurance in Germany (see the guide on health insurance)

Documents you need

• Electronic health insurance card (eGK) or a temporary insurance confirmation

  Bring it to every first visit of each quarter. Until the card arrives, ask your insurer for a confirmation the practice can use.

  required

• Passport or ID card

  Some practices check identity at the first visit.

  optional

• Vaccination record and previous medical reports

  Bring translations or summaries of important diagnoses, medication lists and allergy information if you have them.

  optional

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Get your health insurance card ready

   With statutory insurance you identify yourself with your electronic health card (elektronische Gesundheitskarte, eGK). The practice reads it at the first visit in each calendar quarter and bills your insurer directly; you pay nothing at the desk for covered treatment.

   If your card has not arrived yet, ask your insurer for a temporary confirmation of insurance. Privately insured patients usually receive an invoice and claim the money back from their insurer.

   Practices may offer extra services that statutory insurance does not cover (individuelle Gesundheitsleistungen, IGeL), such as certain screenings. If a practice knows that your insurer will not pay, it must tell you the expected cost in writing before treatment, so you can decide.

2. 2

   Step 2: Search for a family doctor, including by language

   Use the official doctor and psychotherapist search of the 116117 patient service at arztsuche.116117.de. It lists practices that treat people with statutory insurance and lets you filter by specialty, distance, accessibility and foreign languages (Fremdsprachen), so you can look for practices that state they speak English or another language. The information comes from the practices themselves via the Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, so call to confirm.

   Useful search terms: Allgemeinmedizin (general medicine), Innere Medizin (internal medicine, often also family doctors), Kinder- und Jugendmedizin (paediatrics), Frauenheilkunde (gynaecology).

   Your health insurer may also be able to help you find a practice; ask its service line.

3. 3

   Step 3: Contact the practice

   Phone during opening hours or use the practice's online booking if it has one. Say that you are a new patient (Neupatient), which insurance you have and what the visit is about. If a practice is not taking new patients, ask whether it keeps a waiting list or can recommend a colleague.

   For acute but non-emergency problems, some family practices offer an open consultation (offene Sprechstunde or Akutsprechstunde) at certain times without appointment. Check the practice website or ask by phone.

4. 4

   Step 4: Use the 116117 appointment service if you cannot find an appointment

   If you have statutory insurance, the appointment service (Terminservicestelle) of the Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians helps you find appointments, by phone at 116117 (free, 24 hours) or online at 116117-termine.de.

   • The service must offer you an appointment within one week, and the waiting time for the appointment itself should not exceed four weeks.
   • For most specialists you need a referral (Überweisung) from your family doctor with an urgency code (Vermittlungscode) on it. You do not need a referral for gynaecologists, ophthalmologists or paediatricians, or for a first psychotherapy consultation.
   • The service also helps you find a family doctor.
   • You do not have a right to a specific doctor or practice, and the practice must be at a reasonable distance.
   • If no practice is available within the time limit, the service must offer you an outpatient appointment at a hospital.
5. 5

   Step 5: See specialists, with or without a referral

   With statutory insurance you may go to most specialists directly. In practice, a referral from your family doctor (Überweisung) is often useful or necessary:

   • it passes your family doctor's findings and question on to the specialist,
   • you need one for the 116117 appointment service (with urgency code),
   • some specialist practices ask new patients for one, so check when you call.

   Your family doctor keeps your records together, which helps if you see several specialists. If you join a family-doctor programme of your insurer (hausarztzentrierte Versorgung), you agree to always see your family doctor first, for at least a year.

6. 6

   Step 6: Find a dentist

   Dentists (Zahnärzte) are organised separately. Find one through the dentist search linked from the 116117 dental page or your insurer's search, and make an appointment directly. Statutory insurance covers check-ups, fillings and root canal treatment; for crowns and dentures it pays a fixed subsidy and you pay the rest. Ask for a treatment and cost plan (Heil- und Kostenplan) before larger work.

7. 7

   Step 7: Know where to go when practices are closed

   • Life-threatening emergency (chest pain, stroke signs, severe bleeding, breathing problems, unconsciousness): call 112.
   • Urgent but not life-threatening, in the evening, at night, at weekends or on public holidays: call 116117, the medical on-call service (ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst). Trained staff assess your symptoms, tell you where to go and, if you cannot leave home, can send a doctor to you. You can also go directly to an open on-call practice (Bereitschaftspraxis); find one with the on-call practice search. It is available whether you have statutory or private insurance.
   • Not sure? The Patienten-Navi symptom checker recommends whether you need the emergency department, an on-call practice or a normal appointment.
   • Children: 116117 also tells you about paediatric on-call practices.
   • Toothache out of hours: the dental emergency service of the Berlin dental association, by announcement line (030) 89004-333 or the KZV Berlin emergency page. In Berlin, a dentist in each district is on duty on weekends and public holidays from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00, and there is a night service from 20:00 to 2:00 at two locations.

   See the guide on emergency numbers for the full list.

Sick notes for your employer

Watch out

Common mistakes

• Waiting until you are ill to look for a family doctor.
• Going to a hospital emergency department for problems that an on-call practice or your family doctor could treat, which often means long waits.
• Forgetting the health insurance card at the first visit of the quarter.
• Paying for optional *IGeL* services without first checking whether they are useful or covered.

Tips

• When a search shows that a practice speaks English, phone or check its website first; language data is self-reported.
• Ask your family doctor for a referral with an urgency code if you need a specialist soon; the 116117 service can then book an appointment for you.
• Keep a short list of your medication, allergies and diagnoses in German or English on your phone.
• Cancel appointments you cannot keep as early as possible, so the slot can go to someone else, and check the practice's opening hours before you set off.

Frequently asked questions

Editorial answers written by our team, based on the sources below.

Official links

In your plan

• Find a family doctor before you need oneAdd to plan
• Have a dental check-up and keep your bonus bookletAdd to plan
• Join a German health insurerAdd to plan
• Save the emergency and on-call numbersAdd to plan

Sources

Written and checked by HomiStart editorial against the official sources below. Next scheduled check: 3 Apr 2027.