Contract for medical services

General provisions on the contract

The contract for medical services provision regulates the civil relationship between the patient and the healthcare institution. The subject of the contract for medical services provision is a medical service. The peculiarity of the contract for medical services provision is that it is based on the basic principles of healthcare, which are determined by the Law of Ukraine “Fundamentals of Ukrainian legislation on Health Care.” The system of standards in the healthcare sector is made up of state social norms and industry standards, without which medical services cannot be provided.

Essential terms of the contract

The essential terms of the contract are the terms on the contract subject, the terms determined by law as essential or necessary for contracts of this type, as well as all those terms under which, upon application of at least one of the parties, an agreement must be reached. Therefore, the parties themselves can establish the essential terms of the contract for medical services provision.

Determination of the quality and term of the essential terms of the contract for medical services provision is necessary in connection with the specifics of the services provided. These services are aimed at improving the customer’s health (in this case, the patient). As mentioned above, human health is a priority for the state, therefore, the contract should contain provisions on the medical care in accordance with the healthcare standards.

As for the terms of the services provision: untimely provision of medical services can entail inevitable consequences and significantly affect the life or health of a person. Thus, the cases of significant deterioration in health due to untimely provided medical care lead to the need to include the term for the medical services provision in the essential terms of the contract for medical services provision.

Determining the price as an essential term of the contract for medical services provision is necessary, since it follows from the general provision on the contract for services provision that this type of contract is compensated. In this regard, the service price must be determined in the contract.

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Responsibility of the parties for non-execution or improper execution of the contract terms                 

The conclusion of the contract for medical services provision can have a significant impact on protecting the patients’ rights and protecting the doctors’ interests who directly provide services. The patient’s rights are determined in the Declaration of Lisbon on the Rights of the Patient, and the state must regulate their enforcement. The doctor’s right to professional freedom and professional independence is determined in the Declaration of Physicians on Independence and Professional Freedom.

In order to assist in protecting the patient’s rights, the medical institution interests, to ensure the proper execution of obligations by both parties and to determine the main essential terms of the contract, the scope of the provision of private medical services should be regulated and the uniform principles should be established that will become the basis for private medical institutions when developing and concluding contracts with patients.

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