Last updated 05 October 2021
Terms of Use (Patients) for "samedi Payment"
§1 Purpose and Scope of Services
1.1 These terms of use (the "Terms") are agreed between samedi GmbH, registration number HRB 112862, Rigaer Str. 44, 10247 Berlin ("samedi") and the patient who registers as an account holder via patient.samed.de or authenticates himself/herself as a guest ("guest booking") (the "User") in order to use the online appointment booking and online video consultation service provided by samedi.
The terms of use for the "samedi Payment" function apply to the booking of appointments for which payment is processed via samedi.
1.2 samedi offers the possibility to contact doctors/service providers across a physical distance in order to receive medical consultations and various other health-related services. Users can make appointments with doctors/service providers.
Medical consultations via video consultation are not intended to and cannot replace all traditional doctor/provider visits and face-to-face appointments with doctors/providers. For some symptoms and conditions, or for a meaningful diagnosis and treatment plan, patients may need to see a doctor/provider in person or go to an emergency room immediately.
1.3 The scope and procedure of medical consultations by doctors/service providers are subject to certain restrictions imposed by the professional regulations applicable to doctors/service providers, e.g. the individual case (medical problem) of a user must be suitable for medical video consultation according to the adequate medical discretion of the doctor/service provider. The scope and process of medical video consultations are thus limited by the currently applicable legal framework. Users have no guaranteed entitlement to a medical consultation via samedi.
1.4 samedi additionally offers the user the possibility to submit written symptom descriptions before or during an ongoing video consultation in order to facilitate scheduling and to enable treatment prior to the appointment. When the video call begins, the user can describe their problem and concerns to the doctor/provider. The doctor/provider then takes the medical history and, depending on the case, visually examines the patient, makes a diagnosis if possible and makes a suggestion for further treatment.
1.5 samedi Payment is a function offered by samedi which enables direct payment of the booked appointment type in combination with an appointment reservation.
§2 Prices and payment
2.1 samedi does not charge users any additional fees for using the payment function via samedi.
2.2 The prices and fees for a video call or other services in connection with contacts with a physician/service provider, as well as other potential costs, are based on the services which the physician/service provider provides within the scope of the consultation in his own name and for his own account. If these services are subject to the fee schedule for physicians/service providers (GOÄ), they will also be invoiced according to the prices determined individually by the GOÄ.
2.3 The booking of an appointment with a practitioner only comes into effect if the amount shown at the time of booking for the costs of the consultation could be successfully reserved by the means of payment specified by you. The actual payment of the amount takes place after the successful appointment. The debit is subject to the control of the practitioner.
2.4 The following payment methods are available:
- Debit or credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express)
- Credit via PayPal payment account (if you have a PayPal account with sufficient funds)
- Transfer from bank account (if a PayPal account is linked to the bank account)
The entire payment process is handled by a third-party provider (see §5). There are 2 options here, which the doctor/service provider can set independently:
i) When booking an appointment, the amount indicated in the appointment type is pre-authorised on the means of payment deposited by the patient (ensuring sufficient coverage of the means of payment) and reserved until the time of the booked appointment. Immediately after the end of the appointment, the reserved amount is then available for retrieval by the doctor/service provider.
ii) After the appointment, the patient receives an email with an invoice and an online link to pay for the service.
§3 Billing of medical services
3.1 samedi allows the treatment providers to create the invoices for the services rendered via the samedi platform. For this purpose samedi records the billing data of the patients.
The data involved are as follows:
- Billing address (incl. name and country)
- E-mail address
- Service description
- Charges
- Payment information (e.g. credit card information or PayPal account)
- Invoice and service date
The entire billing process is handled by a third-party provider (see §5).
The billing data is transmitted to the payment service provider and thus to the practitioner in accordance with the patient's consent.
The legal basis for the processing of this data is the fulfilment of the user contract, Art. 6 para. 1b GDPR as well as the consent of the patient according to Art. 6 para. 1a GDPR.
3.2 The payment service provider settles the physician's/service provider's services vis-à-vis the patient and claims the invoice amount accordingly in the case of self-payers or, in the respective case of direct settlement, vis-à-vis the health insurance fund/health insurance company. The statutory retention periods apply. The doctor/service provider is himself a contractual partner of the payment service provider. Accordingly, samedi does not transmit the physician's/service provider's personal data.
§4 Rights and obligations of samedi
4.1 samedi does not guarantee or warrant error-free and uninterrupted accessibility and usability of the app or the functions contained therein. The user can make an appointment for the times available in the booking system of the app. The user can make an appointment on a certain day at a certain time and, if necessary, use the samedi video consultation (this only applies to corresponding video consultation hours).
- samedi accepts no responsibility for interruptions in availability as a result of:
- errors/problems of the Account Holder's hardware/devices, network or software or errors of software that is part of a third party product for which samedi is not responsible;
- other circumstances for which the user is responsible;
- viruses on the device used or other security threats which lead to an interruption of the service despite reasonable preventive measures on the part of samedi;
- circumstances that are to be classified as force majeure.
4.3 With regard to the provision of healthcare services by the doctors/service providers, samedi only acts as an intermediary between the user and the doctors/service providers. Any contracts for medical care and consultation are concluded exclusively between the user and the respective physician/service provider. samedi in particular does not practice medicine itself and does not act as a provider of health care services or as a representative of its users and/or the physicians/service providers. The agreement between the user and samedi is therefore exclusively a service agreement for the provision of a technical solution of the functions described in these terms and conditions as well as other similar functions which samedi will provide in due course. samedi is therefore not responsible for the type or quality of the medical examinations or other medical services provided in the context of a medical consultation.
§5 Third-party providers
5.1 samedi uses services of external providers (currently: PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg) in the course of fulfilling its services.
5.2 The external provider can be replaced by samedi with another external provider with similar functionality due to certain requirements.
§6 Cancellation
6.1 The user can cancel/postpone an agreed appointment free of charge up to 2 hours before the scheduled start of the appointment, unless otherwise stated in the booking process. An appointment can be cancelled directly via the link in the appointment confirmation email.
6.2 If the cancellation is made more than 2 hours before the start of the video call and a charge has been made to the user's payment account in accordance with their chosen payment method, the amount will be refunded within 29 days.
6.3 If the cancellation is made less than 2 hours before the start of the appointment, the user must contact the service provider of the video consultation booked directly. If necessary, a cancellation fee amounting to the full amount shown at the time of booking the appointment will be charged. If the User can prove by means of a sick note from a doctor/ service provider licensed in Germany that he/she was prevented from cancelling the appointment due to illness in accordance with this Section 6.1, no cancellation fee will be charged.