When a relative suddenly becomes a care case, every hour counts. Relatives then usually research in the evening or at the weekend, under time pressure and emotionally strained, and they want to act immediately. It is exactly this moment that decides whether a care service is perceived as reachable and reliable, or whether the search moves on to the next provider. Online booking for the first conversation and the care consultation takes the pressure out of this step: it collects requests around the clock, replaces phone tag with a clear flow, and makes the mandatory consultation under Section 37 paragraph 3 SGB XI plannable. This article shows how care services can integrate such booking into their care website in a data-protection-compliant and low-barrier way, turning it into a high-converting tool for appointment scheduling.
Key takeaways
- 64 percent (Bitkom) of people in Germany have already booked a doctor's appointment online, up from 36 percent (Bitkom) in 2023. 25 percent (Bitkom) book directly via the provider's website, and that channel belongs to the care service itself.
- Since January 2026 the consultation under Section 37 paragraph 3 SGB XI has been due every six months for care grades 2 to 5 on care allowance alone (Federal Ministry of Health) - a plannable occasion for some 3.1 million people (Federal Statistical Office).
- Up to 31 March 2027, every second consultation may be held by video conference on request, while the first one stays in the home environment (Federal Ministry of Health). Both formats can be arranged through the booking flow.
- 84 percent (Bitkom) name independence from phone availability hours as the greatest advantage of online scheduling. The booking does not replace the counselling conversation; it only takes in the first request.
- Name, callback number, concern and preferred time are enough to book; a short choice between first consultation, mandatory visit and service enquiry sorts requests up front. Where fixed slots are hard to plan, a callback request beats a rigid calendar.
- Care grade and illness details are special category data under the GDPR: encrypted transmission, EU hosting, active consent, deletion periods. Large buttons, strong contrast and keyboard operation keep the booking usable for older visitors.
Why Online Booking Matters Now
The expectation of booking appointments online has arrived in healthcare. 64 percent (Bitkom) of people in Germany have now booked a doctor's appointment online at least once; in 2024 it was 50 percent, in 2023 only 36 percent (Bitkom). A further 16 percent (Bitkom) can imagine doing so in future, and only 18 percent (Bitkom) reject digital appointment scheduling outright. What applies to the medical practice carries over to care: anyone looking for a consultation expects to be able to take the first step themselves and immediately, without having to phone during an office's opening hours.
For care services this is an opportunity. A large share of online bookings does run through specialised appointment portals, but 25 percent (Bitkom) of users book their appointment directly via the provider's website or by e-mail. This channel is yours: booking on your own website catches interested people where they are already researching and leads them straight to you, without a detour via third parties. That way an anonymous website visit becomes a concrete request you can follow up.
The Numbers at a Glance
The 37.3 SGB XI Consultation as a Plannable Anchor
Since 1 January 2026 the mandatory consultation under Section 37 paragraph 3 SGB XI has been uniformly regulated: for care grades 2 to 5 it is generally due every six months, that is twice a year, when people in need of care receive only care allowance and are looked after at home by relatives (Federal Ministry of Health). This concerns many households: at the end of 2023, around 3.1 million (Federal Statistical Office) people in need of care received only care allowance and were thus cared for predominantly by relatives. Each of these consultations is a fixed, recurring occasion for an appointment, and it is precisely such plannable appointments that online booking organises particularly well.
The right to counselling is anchored in law. Since 2009, every person in need of care has had a right to individual care counselling by the care funds (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds), and the association issues nationwide guidelines so that counselling runs comparably everywhere (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds). It is carried out above all by nursing professionals, social insurance clerks or social workers with appropriate further training (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds). For care services that offer such consultations, scheduling is therefore a regular process that ties up a lot of phone time if it is not supported digitally.
Half-Yearly Mandatory Visit
For care grades 2 to 5 the consultation has been due generally twice a year since 2026 (Federal Ministry of Health). Recurring appointments can be scheduled ahead through online booking.
Video as an Option
At the request of the person in need of care, every second consultation up to 31 March 2027 may be held by video conference; the first consultation always takes place in the home environment (Federal Ministry of Health). Both formats can be arranged online.
A Legal Entitlement
Since 2009 every person in need of care has been entitled to individual care counselling (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds). Visible booking makes this entitlement easy to take up.
Qualified Counselling
Counselling is provided by nursing professionals and further-trained specialists (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds). Showing the team and its qualification builds trust before the appointment.
Less Administration
Proof of the consultation is a recurring process (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds). Structured scheduling relieves the office and reduces callbacks.
A First Line to Relatives
The consultation is often the first personal contact. Making this appointment easy to book opens the door to further services and longer support.
Precisely because the powers of nursing professionals have grown with the care reform, it pays to see the consultation appointment as an entry point to the whole range of services. How to present the new competences on the website is shown in the article on the 2026 Nursing Competence Act and your website. The consultation thus turns from a mandatory visit into a door opener for your care service.
From Phone Tag to Requests Around the Clock
The biggest advantage of online booking lies in reachability. 84 percent (Bitkom) of those who use online scheduling or can imagine doing so name independence from a practice's phone hours as the greatest advantage. In care this point is especially relevant: relatives often organise care on the side, during a lunch break, late in the evening or at the weekend, when no one answers the phone at the care office. Anyone who can send a request at exactly these moments does not have to wait for the next working day and is less likely to move on to the next provider.
For your team the gain is noticeable too. Instead of taking calls at peak times, noting callbacks and rescheduling appointments repeatedly, structured requests arrive bundled in the inbox. This reduces the classic phone tag, where both sides keep missing each other and lose valuable time. How to design a website so that visitors become requests in general is explored in the article on more inquiries via the care website.
Reachable Without Constant Staffing
What Good Online Booking for Care Services Needs
Booking for care is more than a calendar widget. It has to fit the particular situation of the audience: older people, often overburdened relatives and sensitive health data. The following qualities have proven important in projects with care websites (project experience), so that the booking offer actually turns into requests.
Few, Clear Fields
Name, callback number, concern and preferred time are enough for the first request. Every extra mandatory field costs completions, especially on the smartphone.
Sort the Concern Up Front
A short choice of whether it is about a first consultation, a mandatory visit or a service enquiry sorts the requests and saves later follow-up questions.
Confirmation and Reminder
An automatic confirmation by e-mail creates commitment; a friendly reminder lowers the number of forgotten appointments.
Callback Instead of Rigid Slot
Where fixed time windows are hard to plan, a callback request with a preferred time frame is often more practical than a rigid calendar.
Mobile First
Many relatives research on their phone. The booking has to be usable with large buttons and without zooming.
Integrated Into the Website
Booking belongs visibly on the home page, service pages and contact page, not in a hidden sub-menu.
For the booking to be found, it should be thought of together with local search optimisation: anyone searching for a care service in the region should see the booking button straight away. How the mobile presentation for relatives succeeds is shown in the article on the mobile-optimised care website.
Data Protection for Sensitive Health Data
As soon as someone books a consultation, data is created that is specially protected. Details about the need for care, the care grade or illnesses count among the special categories of personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation and may only be processed with a clear legal basis and appropriate safeguards. For online booking this means concretely: transmission must be encrypted, only the genuinely necessary details should be requested, and the data belongs on servers within a secure legal framework, ideally in Germany or the EU.
Data minimisation is not only an obligation but also a signal of trust. Anyone who explains in the booking form what each detail is needed for, and who does without optional fields, noticeably lowers the barrier. An understandable privacy notice and deliberate consent are part of this. How to design forms in care in a legally sound way is explored on the page on data protection for sensitive health data.
Points to Check
- Encrypted transmission of all form entries
- Processing and hosting in Germany or the EU
- Only the mandatory fields needed for scheduling
- Clearly worded consent instead of pre-ticked boxes
- An understandable privacy notice linked right at the form
- Defined access rights and deletion periods within the team
Low-Barrier Use for Older People and Relatives
The audience of a care website is especially varied: caring relatives of different ages, but also older people who research themselves. A booking that only works with a mouse, small type and perfect eyesight excludes some of these people. Low-barrier use is not an add-on here but a precondition for the booking being used at all, and since the Accessibility Strengthening Act also a legal requirement for many providers.
Concretely this means sufficiently large buttons, clear contrasts, logical keyboard operation and labelling that a screen reader can read out. Error messages should be understandable and say what to do. How to implement these requirements in practice is described on the page on accessible design of the care website.
- Large, easily reachable buttons instead of small links
- High contrasts and readable font sizes without zooming
- Full operability by keyboard
- Understandable, helpful error messages
- Clear labelling of all fields for screen readers
Phone and Online Booking Compared
| Aspect | Phone Only | With Online Booking |
|---|---|---|
| Reachability | Only during office hours | Requests possible around the clock |
| Evenings and weekends | Answering machine or no one | Booking can be sent at any time |
| Effort in the office | Many calls, callbacks, notes | Bundled, structured requests |
| Data quality | Handwritten notes, follow-up questions | Complete details in a fixed format |
| First impression | A busy tone feels off-putting | An immediate response feels inviting |
| Plannability | Appointments often rescheduled | Recurring consultations plannable |
Five Steps to Online Booking
The path to online booking need not be complicated. In practice a structured process is enough, one that embeds the booking sensibly into the existing care website instead of placing it beside it as an isolated tool.
- Define occasions: keep first consultation, mandatory visit and service enquiries neatly apart
- Keep the form lean: request only the fields needed for first contact
- Secure data protection: encrypted transmission, EU hosting and clear consent
- Design it low-barrier: large buttons, good contrasts, keyboard operation
- Place it visibly: embed the booking button on the home, service and contact pages
Whether the booking can be integrated into your existing site or whether a larger relaunch of the care website makes more sense depends on the state of your current website. Sometimes the simple addition of a booking element is the best way, sometimes it is the chance to reorganise the contact paths altogether. Which option suits your care service is best clarified in a personal conversation.
A clearly visible booking option works in two directions, by the way: it makes first contact easier for relatives and signals to applicants a modern, well-organised employer. How to design a career page for international nurses and how genuine reviews build trust round out the picture of a website that makes contact deliberately easy.
Independence from a practice's phone hours is, for 84 percent of respondents, the greatest advantage of online appointment scheduling.
Sources and Studies