Coming for a medical specialist appointment

Wearing a surgical mask is mandatory!

• Patients presenting to the Emergency Medicine Centre (EMC) and the Women’s Clinic Emergency Department must wear a face mask if they have symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections (cough, runny nose, fever).
• Wearing a surgical mask during appointment or treatment is not mandatory.

Referral letter

A referral letter from your GP or a medical specialist is required to get an appointment with a specialist. It is the decision of your GP to assess whether you need a specialist consultation and to give you a referral letter, if necessary. Referral in digital form is preferred to facilitate booking an appointment.

No referral is required to visit:

• a psychiatrist
• a gynaecologist
• a dermatologist and sexually transmitted diseases specialist
• a pulmonologist (in cases of suspected tuberculosis)
• an ophthalmologist
• a dentist
• a traumatologist or surgeon in the case of recent trauma (within past 24 hours)

To get an appointment with a specialist, you need to book an appointment in advance:

• at the reception desk;
• by phone (+372) 666 1900 from Monday to Friday 07:15-18:00; or
• Health Portal https://www.terviseportaal.ee/en/

It is possible to schedule appointments 4 months in advance. Demand for medical appointments by people in need is currently higher than the availability of services, partially due to the limited number of certain specialists and the agreement with the Estonian Health Insurance Fund. Therefore, the waiting list might turn out to be long.

If you are covered by health insurance but do not have a referral letter or you wish to receive a health service without having to wait, you have the possibility to book a paid medical specialist appointment.

Read your referral letter carefully before coming to the investigation to be sure of the address at which the service is provided. Be careful, as investigations have time and duration restrictions. As diagnostic investigations are done in hospitals in different locations, it is important that you are in the right place at the right time. If you go to the wrong location, you may no longer be able to get your investigation done.

Remote consultation

A remote consultation is a remote appointment between a patient and a healthcare professional where a phone call is used to communicate.

Our specialists, nurses, midwives and other specialists (clinical psychologists, physiotherapists, activity therapists and speech therapist) are available for remote consultation.

A remote consultation and means of communication will be agreed with you in advance, taking into consideration your wishes and opportunities.

If you would like to record the remote consultation, be sure to request permission to do so at the start of the consultation!

Recommendations for patients to ensure that your remote consultation goes smoothly:

1. Be nearby the telephone at the agreed time. Be prepared for a call from the hospital and take into consideration that it may come from a number you are unfamiliar with.

2. Check your device in advance to make sure that you have sufficient battery.

3. Make sure that you have access to any important information you may be asked to provide during the consultation, such as:

• the name and doses of any medicinal products you use and how often you take them (prescription as well as over-the-counter medicine);
• the names of any food supplements, vitamins, medicinal herbs you take;
• the results of previous investigations and analyses, if available on paper;
• regular health notes (if available), e.g. blood pressure diary, food diary, headache diary.

4. Make sure all aids you may need are close by, e.g. glasses or hearing aid. Have a pen and paper ready for taking notes.

5. Plan in advance the things you definitely want to ask or discuss during the consultation.

6. Find a private and quiet place for the remote consultation.

7. Be sure to ask if there is something you do not understand during the consultation.

You can read more about remote consultation on the website of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund.

If you have additional questions, please contact our customer service.

Appointment cancellation

If you are not able to attend your appointment, please inform us by:

• in the  Health Portal
• calling 666 1900
• filling out the form on our website

All booked appointments can be cancelled regardless of whether these were made through the health portal, at the reception desk, by phone or by a healthcare professional.

Appointment fee

You must pay a visit fee of 5 euros for a medical specialist appointment.

The corresponding visit fee should be paid before the appointment. Payments using cash or card payments are accepted; in exceptional cases, an invoice can be issued. Upon payment of an invoice via bank transfer, please indicate the invoice number and patient's name under payment details. If the payment deadline is exceeded, the patient will receive a reminder and if the payment is not received within 30 days, the unpaid invoice will be forwarded to a collection agency. To avoid any inconveniences, please pay all of your invoices on time.

Appointment fees are not charged upon presentation of the corresponding document by:

• patients younger than 19 years of age (ID)
• pregnant patients (pregnancy card)
• patients who have received emergency outpatient care, followed by direct treatment at the inpatient department
• patients using a healthcare service for which they are required to pay
• patients who attend an appointment based on a referral issued by a specialist working in the same or another field of medicine at East Tallinn Central Hospital
• patients making a repeat visit if less than 90 days have passed since payment of the appointment fee for the previous visit to the same physician