Contacting your Doctor Directly or via the Office

Do you need a prescription, doctor’s note, or advice regarding a medical condition? Submit a request through the website or app

Submit requests in a few quick, easy steps

Use the "Doctor requests and messages" service to contact your doctor online via the website or application. You can request prescriptions, referrals, confirmations, or advice regarding medical conditions without needing to visit the clinic.

Which requests should be submitted to the office?

For administrative matters, please reach out to the office, responsible for handling issues such as:

• Medication approvals
• Financial authorization forms (Form 17)
• Refunds
• Finding services
• Covid-19
• Documents

Which requests should be submitted to your doctor?

Inquiries regarding non-urgent medical matters that do not require a medical exam.
Contact your doctor directly regarding requests such as:

• Medication prescriptions or existing prescription renewals (excluding medication approvals)
• Referrals
• Doctor’s notes
• Medical questions

How often can you send requests to your doctor?

You can submit up to 4 requests per quarter.
Each request can cover multiple subjects (such as a prescription request, a doctor’s note request, and medical questions).
Ages 70 and up can submit up to 5 requests

Restrictions on the number of requests that can be sent to your family doctor and pediatrician are waived in the following cases:

• Patients with a serious illness (code 1400)
• Hearing-impaired patients (code 4112)
• Children of parents with hearing challenges (code 4116)
• Patients receiving in-home medical care
• Children with somatic symptom disorder (code 1430)

Who can submit a request?

You can contact a doctor if two conditions are met:

• You have a Maccabi Online password
• You saw the doctor in the last year and a half, and following examination, your doctor filed a diagnosis in your medical record

Which doctors can receive requests?

• Family doctors and pediatricians - Requests can only be sent if you saw them in the last 18 months.
• Gynecologists - You can contact the last one you saw within the past year.

Minors between the ages of 16 and 18 who have a Maccabi Online password can also send requests to a gynecologist. Parents/guardians may also view what their minors send the doctor, in accordance with the law.

You can contact these doctors only if they have enrolled in the Online request-filing service.

If you visited another family doctor besides your regular one, you may also send them an online request within 3 months of the visit date.

When can you expect a response from your doctor?

• Family doctors and pediatricians - a typical response timeframe is within 7 days (5 working days).
• Gynecologists - a typical response timeframe is within 10 working days.

The service is not intended for urgent situations. If you require urgent medical attention, please contact the relevant treatment providers, and if necessary, urgent care centers.

It is at the doctor’s discretion how to respond to each request, based on their medical judgment. Doctors may provide a full or partial response, decline the request, request that you visit the clinic, or offer recommendations on how to proceed. If the doctor's response includes explanations or recommendations, please read them carefully and follow accordingly.

Important information:

• Medication approvals - This service does not include requests for medication approvals. How to apply for medication approvals >
• Please submit requests regarding medical matters only.
• Requests regarding administrative issues should be directed to the medical center's office
• Please try to write your request concisely while being sure to include all the information needed for your doctor to respond effectively
• As of March 3, 2023, some doctors are able to receive requests on weekends, depending on their personal preferences.
• An online chat option is available every day of the week, including Fridays and Saturdays.

FAQs regarding doctor requests

Why isn't my doctor listed in the "Doctor requests and messages" section?

Only family doctors, pediatricians, and gynecologists participate in the service. Requests cannot be sent to most specialists (such as dermatologists, ophthalmologists, orthopedists, etc).
The gynecologist listed will be the last one you visited within the past year.
You can send a request to the doctor only if, within the past year and a half, you had a doctor’s exam at the clinic. Visits to receive prescriptions or referrals are not considered complete visits. You can send requests to the doctor 24 hours after the visit.
Your doctor may not have enrolled in the service yet.

Can I edit or cancel a request I've sent?

You can edit or cancel a sent request, provided it hasn't been read by the doctor yet.
Once the doctor has read the request, both your request and the doctor's response are recorded in the medical file and cannot be deleted or edited.

How will you know if the doctor has read the request?

• You can view details of requests you sent via Maccabi Online or the application. Instructions on viewing requests sent to the doctor >
• A request that the doctor hasn't read yet will be labeled as "new."

• How many requests can I send the doctor?

You can submit up to 4 requests per quarter in each relevant medical field (family medicine, pediatrics, and gynecology).
Patients with a serious illness (code 1400) or hearing impairment (code 4112), children of parents with hearing challenges (code 4116) and patients receiving in-home medical care are not restricted in the number of requests they can send to their family doctor and pediatrician.
If you've sent a request and haven't received a response yet, you cannot submit another request to the same doctor until you receive a response.

If you've exceeded the request quota for the quarter, you can contact the doctor's clinic and present your request directly to them.

Can a request be sent to the doctor even when they are not at the clinic?

You can send a request to the doctor at any time. The doctor will respond within a few days, during their working hours.
If your doctor is absent from the clinic for a certain period (e.g., due to travel or illness), you cannot send them a request until they return. If the doctor is absent but works in a shared clinic, you can temporarily submit a request to other doctors at the clinic (assuming they are enrolled in the service).

I'm trying to send a request to the doctor but received an error message

Your request may contain characters that prevent it from being sent.
Remove the following characters and try again: ~ { } <> & /..

I wrote a request, but can’t click the "Continue" button.

The request might be too long. Try shortening it - the allowable character count depends on the request:
Prescription requests - up to 100 characters
Doctor’s note and medical condition confirmation requests - up to 30 characters
Medical questions - up to 200 characters

Try submitting the request again.

I got a message saying “Invalid phone number”.

Enter digits only, without spaces or dashes.

The request status says “No response from the doctor”.

This answer can appear for several reasons:

• The doctor couldn't respond within 5 days.
• The doctor lacked sufficient information to reply or issue a prescription.
• The doctor would like you to come in to the clinic, for tests or related follow-up.

For further clarification, contact the attending physician or their affiliated clinic.

The same request cannot be resubmitted.
An unanswered request doesn't count towards the quarterly request quota.

I received a message saying “The forms were printed at the doctor's clinic due to a technical issue”?

Because of a technical issue at the doctor's clinic, you must visit the clinic to collect the printed forms or prescriptions.

I got a message saying "No medications were found in your record for the past year".

Prescriptions can only be requested for medications purchased within the past 12 months. To obtain a prescription for medications not purchased within the past year, please call your doctor or visit the clinic.

Which requests appear on the "Requests and Approvals" page?

• All requests you've sent your doctor
• Financial authorization requests
• Medication approval requests
• Refund requests
• Inquiries sent in designated envelopes at the medical center
• Inquiries about selecting a doctor
• Requests for approval of surgery abroad
• Requests for a discount on hospitalization involving complex nursing
• Requests for medical file transmission
• Inquiries regarding retroactive renewal of supplementary
• insurance
• Inquiries to the breast surgery committee
• Requests for assistance from the welfare fund
• Requests for services by fax or email
• Delivery requests via medical centers or call centers

I couldn't print the prescription I received from the doctor.

Printing a prescription is not possible in the following cases:

• The prescription has already been used at the pharmacy (the medications have been purchased).
• A paper prescription received at the doctor's clinic cannot be printed elsewhere.
• Your browser version doesn't support the Maccabi Online site, or pop-up windows are blocked. For information on adjusting your browser settings and enabling pop-up windows >
• The prescription expired before the medication was purchased.
• To check the prescription validity, click "Doctor requests" in the main menu to view the request details.

A file is attached to the doctor's response. When I tried to open the file, a prompt to save or select a software for opening the document appeared.

Viewing the file requires that Acrobat Reader 88 or higher be installed on the computer.