Turkey has introduced regulations outlining principles and procedures for financial arrangements between health care service providers ("Service Providers") and the Social Security Institution ("Institution"), including supplementary arrangements. In particular, the new requirements for the agreements or protocols aims to provide high quality and accessible health care service, in line with common medical rules.
The Regulation on Drafting and Concluding Social Security Institution's Medical Services Purchase Agreements/Protocols ("Regulation") was published in Official Gazette number 29665 on 26 March 2016, entering into effect on the same day.
Key aspects introduced by the Regulation include:
- The Institution must draft agreements/protocols, except for certain stated exceptions.
- Agreements/protocols become valid
once the following has been obtained:
- Approval by the Institution.
- Approval by the competent public authority.
- Party signatures.
- The Institution chooses the Service Provider to purchase health care services from and determines rules regarding such purchase.
- Agreements/protocols must include provisions requiring the Service Provider to act pursuant to relevant confidentiality legislation regarding information about persons and the Institution.
- Transferring operational rights (including leasing) will be deemed to be a transfer of operations. The transferor and transferee will be jointly and severally liable for the debt owed to the Institution.
- Agreements/protocols cannot be shorter than six months.
Any agreement/protocol concluded after 26 March 2016 must comply with the Regulation's provisions. The Regulation does not apply to agreements/protocols which are already in force.
Please see this link for the full text of the Regulation (only available in Turkish).
Information first published in the MA | Gazette, a fortnightly legal update newsletter produced by Moroğlu Arseven.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.