How 116117 Actually Works: Referral Codes, Second Opinions, and Video Doctors in Bavaria

How the Referral Code and 116117 Booking Actually Work

Getting a specialist appointment as a statutory (GKV) patient in Bavaria runs through a specific mechanism most newcomers never see spelled out, and knowing the actual pieces, not just the phone number, is what makes it usable.

Most specialists require a referral (Überweisung) from your Hausarzt or another treating doctor first, with two direct exceptions. KVB’s own official guidance confirms eye doctors (Augenärzte) and gynecologists (Frauenärzte) can be booked directly, no referral needed at all. For every other specialist, the referral itself carries the piece of information that makes 116117 work: a Vermittlungscode, also called a Dringlichkeitscode, a 12-digit code printed directly on the slip.

You give that code to 116117, and the service is genuinely available around the clock, seven days a week, through three channels: the phone line itself, the online eTermin-Service, or the 116117 app. Verbraucherzentrale’s consumer guidance is specific about what the code actually unlocks: as a statutory patient with a referral your doctor has marked urgent (dringend), you have a genuine right to a specialist appointment within four weeks of contacting the service. Without that urgency marking, the same four-week right doesn’t apply, and routine checkups, preventive exams, and minor complaints are explicitly excluded from the guarantee altogether.

Your Right to a Second Opinion Before an Operation

A second, entirely separate right sits alongside the appointment-booking mechanism: since 2015, SGB V section 27b has given statutory patients a legal right to an independent second opinion (Zweitmeinung) before certain planned operations. The qualifying list has grown over time and now runs to 13 procedure categories, per KVB’s own Zweitmeinungsverfahren page: tonsil removal, hysterectomy, knee and hip replacement, shoulder arthroscopy, gallbladder removal, spinal surgery, cardiac catheterization and ablation, pacemaker or defibrillator implantation, diabetic-foot amputation, and abdominal aortic aneurysm procedures, with certain procedures for localized prostate cancer added April 1, 2025, and certain carotid artery procedures added October 1, 2025.

The mechanics genuinely favor the patient. Your Krankenkasse covers the full cost, your original doctor is legally required to inform you of this right at least 10 days before the scheduled operation and to hand over relevant medical records on request, and the doctor giving the second opinion cannot be affiliated with the practice or hospital that would actually perform the procedure, an independence requirement that exists specifically to keep the second opinion free of any financial stake in the outcome. An official, insurance-independent search tool exists at 116117.de/zweitmeinung, and many individual Krankenkassen run their own second-opinion finder services as well.

Real-world use of this right is strikingly low, which is worth knowing before you assume it’s a well-worn path. The official evaluation of Germany’s Zweitmeinungsrichtlinie found only 0.2 to 0.4 percent of eligible cases actually resulted in a formal second opinion, even though documented information about the right happens far more often. A small, not-yet-peer-reviewed 2026 study out of Universität zu Köln looked specifically at patients who did go through with it, 150 orthopedic and neurosurgery cases with both opinions on record, and found real disagreement between the two doctors in 56 percent of cases overall, rising to nearly 63 percent specifically when the first doctor had recommended surgery. Roughly 70 percent of patients who got a second opinion followed it, and that rose to almost 80 percent when the second opinion advised against operating. Treat the precise percentages as illustrative given the study’s small, unpublished, single-institution sample, but the underlying pattern, that a second opinion frequently changes the actual medical recommendation rather than just rubber-stamping the first one, is exactly why the right exists.

DocOnLine: Bavaria’s Free Video-Doctor Alternative

DocOnLine is a genuinely separate service from 116117, a free, Bavaria-wide video-consultation platform KVB launched on June 12, 2024. Deutsches Ärzteblatt’s coverage of the launch describes its actual purpose: giving patients with an acute, non-emergency complaint a digital route to a doctor when their own Hausarzt or specialist isn’t reachable, while easing pressure on on-call practices (Bereitschaftsdienst) and hospital emergency departments by directing people to the right level of care from the start.

Using it is a short, structured process. You go to doconline-bayern.de, enter your postcode, and work through a brief structured self-assessment (SmED). If a video consultation genuinely fits your complaint, you’re routed straight into registration and a virtual waiting room, where a participating Bavarian doctor, a GP, pediatrician, or specialist depending on what’s needed and available, joins you, typically within about an hour. You can share photos of a symptom, a medication list, or existing findings with the doctor directly through the platform. BMW BKK’s own service page confirms the service is open to any statutorily insured patient in Bavaria, free of charge, and available daily from 9am to 9pm, including weekends and public holidays. If your complaint isn’t actually suitable for video, or turns out to need in-person attention, DocOnLine redirects you onward to a regular practice, the Bereitschaftsdienst, or emergency care rather than trying to handle everything itself.

Step by Step

1. Check whether your referral actually has an urgency marking and a Vermittlungscode printed on it before you try to book, that code is what 116117 needs, whether you call, use eTermin-Service, or use the app.
2. Skip the referral entirely for an eye doctor or gynecologist, you can book those directly with no code and no GP visit first.
3. If you’re facing a planned operation on the qualifying list, ask your doctor about your Zweitmeinung right rather than waiting to be told, they’re required to inform you at least 10 days before the operation, but asking early gives you more time to actually use it.
4. Use the 116117.de/zweitmeinung portal or your own Krankenkasse’s finder tool to locate a genuinely independent second-opinion doctor, one with no affiliation to wherever the operation would happen.
5. For an acute but non-emergency complaint, try DocOnLine at doconline-bayern.de before defaulting to a waiting room, it’s free, available 9am-9pm daily, and typically gets you to a doctor within about an hour.
6. Treat 112 and your nearest emergency department as the only real answer for an actual emergency, none of 116117, the second-opinion right, or DocOnLine are built to handle one.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general mechanics of Germany’s statutory specialist-referral system, the Zweitmeinung second-opinion right, and Bavaria’s DocOnLine service as they stand in mid-2026, based on official KVB, Verbraucherzentrale, and federal health-portal guidance, alongside one small, not-yet-peer-reviewed academic study whose specific figures should be read as illustrative rather than definitive. It is not medical advice, and specific rules, qualifying procedure lists, and service availability can change. For your own situation, confirm current details directly with your Hausarzt, your Krankenkasse, or the 116117 service.