Use of telemedicine in Greece rises, even by Greeks abroad and tourists

The system has even received calls from Greeks living in London and other parts of the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States, as well as from foreign tourists stranded on the Cyclades islands during the lockdown.

"Greeks abroad called here because they did not have the same confidence in foreign systems. They work in a completely different way, they are not so 'warm' and when someone calls them it is almost impossible to talk to a doctor. In most cases, he or she will contact a nurse or, more rarely, a general practitioner. On the contrary, the goal of the system that we put into operation in Greece, based in Thessaly, from the beginning sought to bring primary health care close to the user. Thus, more than 500 doctors from all over Greece were available to citizens for video conferences," the general director of the Greek-French start-up company Dr. Button, Dimitris Balaouras, said to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA).