A prevention check-up carried out by a doctor is a 30- to 45-minute conversation, open to people aged 18–25, 45–50, 60–65 and 70–75 and fully covered (100%). It is billed under code RDV, €30 (€31.50 in the overseas departments and regions, or DROM), with no extra fees, once per age bracket, and it ends with a Personalized Prevention Plan sent to the patient’s regular doctor (médecin traitant).
Since 2024, community-based doctors in France have had a dedicated procedure for prevention: Mon bilan prévention, France’s national prevention check-up program. It does not replace the prevention we do over the course of regular visits; it gives it its own time, framework and payment. This page brings together what a doctor needs to know to offer it, conduct it and bill it without errors.
What is the framework for the doctor-led prevention check-up, and who is eligible?
The prevention check-up is defined by the decree (arrêté) of May 28, 2024 on the providers, content and billing terms of prevention appointments. It is for insured people aged 18 to 25, 45 to 50, 60 to 65 and 70 to 75 inclusive, once per age bracket. The professionals who carry out the check-up are doctors, nurses, pharmacists and midwives.
One regulation, four ages, four professions
French National Health Insurance (Assurance Maladie) describes the program as “a time for discussion dedicated to health prevention.” The regulation refers to “prevention appointments” (rendez-vous de prévention), while public communication uses “Mon bilan prévention”: it is the same procedure, piloted in late 2023 and then rolled out nationwide in early 2024. The Centre-Val de Loire regional health agency (ARS) has announced physiotherapists as providers “from October 2026.”
The check-up can be carried out by any doctor who has signed up for the program, not only by the patient’s regular doctor. Signing up is voluntary; it is done on sante.fr, the French public health information portal, with a CPS or e-CPS card (the French health professional smart card or its digital version), and it lists you in the directory of professionals offering the check-up.
The four age brackets and the expected topics
| Age bracket | Eligibility | Topics usually emphasized |
|---|---|---|
| 18 to 25 inclusive | Once within the bracket | Mental health, addictions, sexual health and contraception, catch-up vaccinations, sleep, entry into the coordinated care pathway |
| 45 to 50 inclusive | Once within the bracket | Cardiovascular risk, type 2 diabetes, organized cancer screening programs, tobacco and alcohol, physical activity, menopause |
| 60 to 65 inclusive | Once within the bracket | Cancer screening, cardiovascular risk, vaccinations, osteoporosis, hearing and vision, isolation |
| 70 to 75 inclusive | Once within the bracket | Fall prevention, undernutrition, cognitive function, medication review, isolation, caregivers |
The official tools cover diet, physical activity and sedentary behavior, tobacco, alcohol and other addictions, sleep, mental health, sexual health, menopause, aging, isolation, cancer screening, vaccination and cardiovascular prevention. The check-up is not meant to cover everything: one or two topics are chosen with the patient.
Checking eligibility before you start
The “one check-up per person per age bracket” rule applies whichever professional carries it out: a patient who had their 45–50 check-up with a pharmacist cannot have it again at your practice for the same bracket, and a second RDV would be undue. In practice, we ask the patient and check their shared medical record (dossier médical partagé), where the PPP may have been uploaded.
How does the prevention check-up work in three steps, and how much time should you allow?
The check-up lasts 30 to 45 minutes and follows three steps defined by French National Health Insurance: identifying individual risks from the self-assessment questionnaire, jointly prioritizing one or two topics, then writing the Personalized Prevention Plan (PPP). The patient completes the self-assessment questionnaire before the appointment, which determines how smoothly the conversation goes.
Step 1: identify risks from the self-assessment questionnaire
There is an official self-assessment questionnaire for each age bracket; the patient completes it in Mon espace santé (France’s personal digital health record) or on the PDF version from ameli.fr, ideally a few days in advance. During the visit, we go through it with them and supplement it with the risk-identification aid form: medical history, treatments, living situation, screenings and vaccinations. This document is described in detail in the prevention check-up questionnaire.
Step 2: prioritize one or two topics with the patient
This is the heart of the check-up, and what sets it apart from a routine examination: together with the patient, we choose one or two topics they are ready to act on. The motivational interviewing and brief intervention techniques covered in the EHESP modules fit in here. The patient’s priority is not always the one we would have chosen; it is often what makes the plan stick.
Step 3: write the Personalized Prevention Plan
The PPP sets out the chosen topics, the goals, the concrete actions, the resources to refer the patient to and the timelines. An official template can be downloaded for each age bracket, and the map of prevention resources on sante.fr helps you find a local resource. The patient leaves with their plan, and we keep a copy.
Which official tools should you use: self-assessment questionnaire, topic sheets, PPP template?
French National Health Insurance and sante.fr provide a booklet, topic sheets, self-assessment questionnaires for each age bracket, risk-identification aid forms and Personalized Prevention Plan templates. All can be downloaded; no specific software is required to carry out the check-up.
| Tool | What it is for | Who fills it in | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-assessment questionnaire by age bracket | Identifying lifestyle habits and risks before the appointment | The patient, beforehand | Mon espace santé or PDF on ameli.fr |
| Risk-identification aid form | Structuring the conversation, leaving nothing out | The professional, during the visit | Professional section of ameli.fr |
| Topic sheets | Guidance by topic (tobacco, alcohol, physical activity, sleep, screening, vaccination…) | The professional, as support | Professional section of ameli.fr and sante.fr |
| Personalized Prevention Plan template | Writing the PPP given to the patient | The professional with the patient | Professional section of ameli.fr |
| Map of prevention resources | Finding a local resource to include in the PPP | The professional | sante.fr |
How do you bill the prevention check-up: code RDV, €30, no extra fees?
The prevention check-up is billed under procedure code RDV, at €30 in mainland France and €31.50 in the overseas departments and regions. It is fully covered (100%) by French National Health Insurance, with no upfront payment for the patient, and no extra fees (dépassements d’honoraires) may be charged. It can be billed only once per person per age bracket.
| Billing item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Procedure code | RDV for doctors; RDI for nurses, RDP for pharmacists |
| Amount | €30 in mainland France, €31.50 in the DROM |
| Coverage | 100% French National Health Insurance, with no upfront payment for the patient (full third-party payment, or tiers payant intégral) |
| Extra fees | None, whatever the contractual sector |
| Frequency | Once per person per age bracket, across all professionals |
Payment and Sector 2
Measured against the time spent, the amount is debated among colleagues. Two points put the calculation in perspective: no out-of-pocket cost for the patient and no unpaid bills, and a billable framework for prevention time that many of us were already taking. The no-extra-fees rule has no exceptions, including in Sector 2 (doctors allowed to charge above the standard rate): a doctor who does not wish to bill at this rate is free not to sign up, but cannot carry out a “prevention check-up” with extra fees under that name.
What happens to the Personalized Prevention Plan, and who receives it?
The Personalized Prevention Plan and the risk-identification aid form must be sent to the patient’s regular doctor, unless the patient objects. They are sent via secure health messaging, through the shared medical record in Mon espace santé, or by the patient themselves. If you are the regular doctor, the PPP goes into the patient’s record and serves as a common thread for the following visits.
When you are not the regular doctor
This is common with 18- to 25-year-olds or when the check-up is carried out at a health center. Sending the plan ensures that a screening or vaccination listed in the PPP is not left without follow-up; uploading it to the shared medical record is a simple channel when the patient has activated Mon espace santé. If the patient does not have a regular doctor, the check-up is an opportunity to help them register one.
When you are the regular doctor
The PPP makes sense over time: revisiting the goals set at the next visit, checking that the prescribed screening has been done, adjusting the referral. We describe the content of the plan in the Personalized Prevention Plan. If a pharmacist or a nurse carried out the check-up, you are the one who receives the PPP: add it to the record rather than repeating the exercise, which could no longer be billed for the same bracket.
Is training required to carry out a prevention check-up?
No. French National Health Insurance states that “no additional training is mandatory” to carry out the prevention check-up. Voluntary online modules are offered by the French School of Public Health (École des hautes études en santé publique, EHESP) at formation.bilan-prevention.ehesp.fr, notably on motivational interviewing and brief interventions.
These modules are not meant to reteach prevention, but to work on a stance: moving from top-down advice to supporting a choice the patient makes. For a doctor trained in the classic consultation, this is the point that requires adjustment. Access conditions can be found on the platform.
How do you organize the prevention check-up at your practice, and which mistakes should you avoid?
The check-up works well when it is scheduled in a dedicated time slot, prepared through the self-assessment questionnaire sent in advance and, in practices that have one, shared with a nurse who carries it out and bills it themselves. The most common mistakes are billing a second check-up in the same age bracket, charging extra fees and not sending the PPP.
Schedule a dedicated time slot
The check-up does not fit into a prescription-renewal visit. We recommend opening 30- to 45-minute slots labeled “prevention check-up” in your calendar and offering them to eligible patients flagged by your software (age within the bracket, no check-up already recorded). The front desk sends the link to the self-assessment questionnaire with the appointment confirmation and reminds patients to bring their list of medications and their vaccination record.
Delegate to the practice nurse
In a multi-professional health center (maison de santé), a health center, or with a partner self-employed nurse, the nurse can carry out the entire check-up and bill it under code RDI, at the same rate. As the regular doctor, you then receive the PPP and the risk-identification form and follow up on the points that require a prescription. If the nurse has billed the RDI, the RDV is no longer possible for the same bracket. This arrangement is described in detail in the prevention check-up carried out by a nurse and on the page for health centers; the prevention check-up at the pharmacy follows the same rules with code RDP.
Responding to the patient who “wants a full check-up”
Many patients ask for “a full check-up,” thinking of an exhaustive blood test. The prevention check-up does not include any routine laboratory test; further tests follow from the risk identification and current guidelines. For a patient with little contact with the healthcare system, the preventive health examination (examen de prévention en santé) offered by the Assurance Maladie health examination centers is an option that can be combined with it, described in the free health check.
Common mistakes
- Billing an RDV when the patient has already had the check-up for the same age bracket with another professional: the claim is undue.
- Charging extra fees or having the patient pay: the procedure is fully covered (100%), with no upfront payment.
- Billing a patient outside the age bracket, for example at age 26 or 51: the check-up is not open to them.
- Not sending the PPP to the regular doctor when you are not the regular doctor yourself: the program provides for this, unless the patient objects.
- Turning the check-up into a full medical work-up: piling up prescriptions instead of setting one or two goals with the patient.
Key takeaways
- The prevention check-up is defined by the decree of May 28, 2024; it covers people aged 18–25, 45–50, 60–65 and 70–75, once per age bracket.
- It lasts 30 to 45 minutes, in three steps: risk identification via the self-assessment questionnaire, prioritization of one or two topics, Personalized Prevention Plan.
- RDV billing code: €30 in mainland France, €31.50 in the DROM, 100% French National Health Insurance, with no upfront payment and no extra fees.
- The PPP and the risk-identification form are sent to the regular doctor, unless the patient objects.
- No mandatory training; optional EHESP modules. The practice nurse can carry out and bill the check-up (RDI).
How to organize this pathway with Sokrate
The Sokrate service lets patients prepare their prevention check-up in advance: an adaptive online questionnaire, completed at home, that covers lifestyle habits and risk factors, with a structured summary that reaches you before the visit. The plan is signed by a doctor; a letter is sent to the regular doctor, unless the patient objects, and a care coordination nurse follows up on referrals. How it works and how to sign up are described on the page Sokrate for doctors; the general framework of the program is outlined in the prevention check-up.