Medical Specialties

Start by evaluating your primary symptoms. In Norway, your regular GP (Fastlege) serves as the primary coordinator of care, examining you first and determining whether your condition requires an authorized contracted specialist (avtalespesialist) or hospital polyclinic.

A Fastlege is a primary care general practitioner providing everyday medical care, sick leaves, and prescriptions. An Avtalespesialist is an independent medical specialist with a regional health trust operating agreement who provides specialized outpatient consultations subsidized under the public tariff upon receiving a GP referral.

To receive treatment covered under the public health service tariff - where co-payments count toward your annual frikort cap (NOK 3,278 in 2026) - you must have a referral from a Fastlege. Without a referral, you can book privately at non-contracted clinics (e.g., Aleris, Volvat, Dr. Dropin) and pay full private rates.

Under the Norwegian Patients' Rights Act, public hospitals and contracted polyclinics must evaluate referrals within 10 working days (Vurderingsgaranti) and assign a legally binding treatment deadline. You can check and compare waiting times across all Norwegian health regions on velgbehandlingssted.no.

Yes. Under Norway's Fritt behandlingsvalg policy, you have the statutory right to choose any accredited public hospital or contracted specialist across Norway, regardless of which municipality or county you live in.