Key Points:

• As a patient, I acknowledge that I am receiving physiotherapy treatment from a private therapist and will pay for the therapeutic service privately.

• I am aware that I will definitely need a doctor’s prescription for physiotherapy before the first appointment. I can also use this to get a partial reimbursement of the costs from my health insurance.

• Appointments can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before the agreed appointment.

• Appointments not cancelled in time will be charged in full. These costs cannot be claimed from the responsible health insurance provider.

1. What should you consider before starting treatment?

1.1. Doctor’s Prescription
For your treatment, you will need a doctor’s prescription. You will receive this from your trusted doctor, who is authorized to issue such a prescription. The prescription must include, in addition to personal data,
∘ a medical diagnosis,
∘ the prescribed physiotherapy treatment (indication for physiotherapy), and
∘ the type and number of physiotherapy services.
A doctor’s prescription is only not required if you are using your physiotherapist’s services exclusively for prevention. According to professional law, preventive services may only be provided to healthy individuals. Should you, for example, suffer from pain or become aware of or develop other conditions requiring treatment, please inform your physiotherapist immediately.

1.2. Billing of Treatment Costs
The costs of treatment are determined by a combination of individual service, time required, and any materials needed for the treatment, and will be communicated to you before the start of treatment. Your physiotherapist does not have a contract with your health insurance provider.
You settle the costs with your treating physiotherapist as a private therapist and apply to your responsible health insurance provider for partial reimbursement according to the health insurance tariff/statutory cost subsidy. Information on the expected cost reimbursement/subsidy can only be given subject to the decision of your social insurance provider.

1.3. Chief Physician’s Approval from Your Health Insurance Provider
Your health insurance provider covers a portion of the treatment costs when treatment is provided by private physiotherapists. For this, you or your authorized representative must submit the paid original invoice, along with the (if required) approved doctor’s order, to your health insurance provider. For ÖGK, the chief physician’s approval requirement (until at least June 30, 2025) and for BVAEB (as of October 12, 2022, until further notice) has been suspended due to the pandemic.
If you are insured with SVS, it should be noted that the doctor’s prescription must still be approved by the chief physician’s department before the start of treatment.
This approval by the health insurance provider allows for the reimbursement of the proportional costs/or the statutory cost subsidy, which is paid after the treatment has been carried out and the treatment costs have been settled.

1.4. Findings
Professional treatment requires a detailed initial assessment and findings. Your physiotherapist relies on your cooperation for this. Therefore, you are asked to bring all relevant findings to the first appointment.

2. How is the therapy process structured?

2.1. Personal Individual Care
Your physiotherapist is exclusively available to you for the duration of the treatment. They are your contact person for organizational and professional questions regarding the treatment. With them, you will agree on the important areas for you, such as…
∘ Where to? –> Treatment goal
∘ What? –> Treatment measures
∘ When? –> Treatment appointments
∘ How long? –> Treatment duration
∘ How often? –> Treatment frequency
∘ Until when? –> Scope of treatment
∘ How much? –> Costs of treatment

2.2. Your Treatment
Your physiotherapist’s service comprises all measures directly performed with and for you, including in particular
∘ personal individual treatment, including assessment and consultation,
∘ necessary preparation and follow-up for treatment, such as the creation, adaptation, and provision of individual therapy materials,
∘ documentation (medical history) and at least 10 years of storage, whereby you have a right to inspect and copy (against reimbursement of costs),
∘ if required/upon request: drafting of individual reports beyond the documentation for submission to various bodies such as health insurance providers, treating physicians, private insurance providers, and similar bodies.

2.3. Principles of Your Physiotherapist’s Treatment
∘ Law: Treatment is carried out in accordance with the relevant legal provisions, in particular the professional law, namely the Federal Act on the Regulation of Advanced Medical-Technical Services in its current version (MTD Act).
∘ Science: Your physiotherapist is guided by current scientific findings and works evidence-based.
∘ Self-determination: Your physiotherapist will present you with a treatment proposal based on the doctor’s prescription and the initial assessment. It is up to you to accept this offer or to discuss and agree on adjustments with your physiotherapist.
∘ Confidentiality: All secrets you entrust to your physiotherapist or that become known to them due to the treatment are subject to statutory confidentiality. All other personal data, and in particular your health data, that you exchange with your therapist are subject to data protection. It is assumed that an exchange of information for the purpose of optimizing treatment with the prescribing doctor as well as other health professionals named by you and involved in the treatment is desired. The exchange of health data for the purpose of optimizing treatment between your physiotherapist and other health and care professionals involved in the treatment or care is covered by professional law. However, it only takes place if you explicitly name the health professionals currently involved in the treatment with whom communication for treatment optimization is permitted to your physiotherapist. Should these no longer be involved in the treatment, you will be asked to provide updated information.Without your consent, this information will not be passed on to any other person. Should further disclosure of information prove useful and necessary for medical-therapeutic reasons, your physiotherapist will consult with you about it. The same applies to the disclosure of documentation required by law.

2.4. Documentation
Your physiotherapist is legally obliged to document, among other things, the results of the assessment and the therapeutic measures taken in a medical history. The documentation is the property of your physiotherapist. Upon your request, you and your representatives are entitled to inspect the documentation and receive copies against reimbursement of costs. After the treatment ends, the documentation remains with your physiotherapist and is carefully stored for at least 10 years beyond the legally required period. Also part of the documentation are the doctor’s prescription, submitted external findings, as well as communication with other health professionals and, if applicable, files or video/image material created during treatment with your consent for assessment/therapy purposes.

3. What should you know about the costs of treatment?

3.1. Amount of Costs
The costs are determined by a combination of individual service, time required, and any materials needed for the treatment. A representation of the cost items underlying this agreement can be found in your physiotherapist’s enclosed fee schedule. The costs of the individually anticipated treatment will be communicated to you by your physiotherapist at the beginning of the treatment and are based on the enclosed fee schedule dated March 1, 2023, which forms part of these General Terms and Conditions.

3.2. Payment Method
Your physiotherapist bills each treatment unit in cash after each session and, at the end of the treatment series (or treatment sessions of the doctor’s prescription), issues a detailed invoice for the individual services rendered as a collective invoice, stating the values for the individual items as well as the total costs of the treatment sessions.
The following payment method applies to your physiotherapist:
∘ Cash payment (a receipt obligation applies)

4. What is your contribution to successful treatment?
Your physiotherapist is a companion on your very personal journey and will assist you with advice and action. During the initial assessment, based on the existing doctor’s prescription, any available findings, and the results of the physiotherapeutic assessment, which includes measurements, tests, and the assessment discussion, treatment goals and measures are discussed and agreed upon. For the pre-agreed treatment goal to be achieved, your cooperation is absolutely essential! Patients are therefore encouraged to communicate treatment-relevant information (e.g., about existing pre-existing conditions, concurrently existing diagnoses, medication intake, hospital stays, previously performed examinations) that your physiotherapist cannot obtain during the initial assessment.

You are also requested to inform your physiotherapist about any changes in your health status during ongoing treatment (e.g., deterioration of health, change in medication). Your physiotherapist will support you with targeted questions. Patient cooperation may also mean following specific instructions that support the treatment goal, repeating learned exercises, or refraining from certain actions. If your physiotherapist gets the impression that the treatment goal cannot be achieved, e.g., due to a lack of your cooperation, your physiotherapist will address this with you and try to offer a solution.

5. How do you cancel an agreed treatment appointment?

If you are unable to keep an agreed treatment appointment, you are requested to inform your physiotherapist immediately – but no later than 24 hours on a working day before the agreed appointment – via SMS, call, or voice message. Otherwise, your physiotherapist reserves the right to charge for the missed appointment at the cost you would have had to pay for a completed treatment. These costs cannot be claimed from the health insurance provider. Should suddenly occurring, unculpable reasons such as a hospital stay, a medical emergency, or a positive Covid-19 test prevent you from attending the appointment, you should state this reason when cancelling immediately/as soon as possible and make it comprehensible so that billing can be waived. It is noted that your physiotherapist is also entitled at any time to cancel the agreed appointment or to ask you to reschedule.

6. When does the treatment end?
The doctor’s prescription limits the scope of treatment. Should further treatment be necessary, you will need a new doctor’s prescription.
Treatment usually ends by mutual agreement between you and your physiotherapist. Both you and your physiotherapist are also free to discontinue treatment at any time and without giving reasons. Your physiotherapist will decide to discontinue treatment in particular if they believe that the treatment will not lead to the desired or agreed goal, or if other medical-therapeutic measures are indicated.

The same applies if, for example, your physiotherapist no longer considers the treatment justifiable from a therapeutic perspective or if you do not adhere to the agreed payment method. In the event of premature termination, those treatment sessions that you actually utilized will be charged. An exception applies to appointments not cancelled in time (see above).

7. How do you apply to your health insurance provider for reimbursement of the tariff-based treatment costs/statutory cost subsidy?
Before any submission of the invoice to the responsible health insurance provider (e.g., ÖGK, BVAEB), you must have paid the full fee. For the reimbursement of the tariff-based treatment costs/or the statutory cost subsidy, the submission of the paid original invoice including proof of payment (for cash payment, the settlement note) and, if applicable, the approved doctor’s prescription is necessary. The chief physician’s approval of the doctor’s order is currently only required for SVS before the start of treatment. For ÖGK, the approval requirement (until June 30, 2025) and for BVAEB (until further notice) has been suspended. Consequently, the doctor’s order does not necessarily have to be approved by the chief physician in advance.

Your physiotherapist will advise you on the approximate amount that your health insurance will reimburse/contribute as a cost subsidy. However, information on the expected cost reimbursement/subsidy is based on the individual insurance relationship and can only be given subject to the decision of your health insurance provider.

8. Data Protection and Confidentiality
We inform you that your physiotherapist is subject to professional confidentiality and has no right to disclose information about secrets entrusted or known during the treatment/care of patients/clients to external third parties (outside the treatment contract). However, this excludes treatment-related communication with your prescribing doctor for the purpose of exchanging treatment-relevant information and health data, especially for treatment optimization. The exchange of health data for treatment optimization between your physiotherapist and other health and care professionals involved in the treatment or care is covered by professional law within the framework of a needs-based duty to provide information. However, it only takes place if you explicitly name the health professionals currently involved in the treatment with whom communication for treatment optimization is permitted to your physiotherapist. Should these no longer be involved in the treatment, you will be asked to provide updated information.

If you wish your trusted person to receive information about the treatment/certain (urgent) events or to be contacted if necessary, you are requested to name these persons and explicitly release your physiotherapist from the duty of confidentiality. This explicitly applies also to relatives and spouses.

Your personal data will be treated confidentially by your physiotherapist and are subject to statutory data protection regulations. Your data will be processed for the purpose of contract fulfillment in accordance with professional law (especially documentation, storage, disclosure obligations) and you agree that your personal data, which you have provided to your physiotherapist, will be stored electronically and used within the scope of the contract purpose.

We point out that your physiotherapist is also obliged, in the course of direct communication with you, to comply with the currently applicable statutory data protection regulations – in particular the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the Health Telematics Act. For this reason, the use of unencrypted emails and SMS, WhatsApp, and messenger services, which are incompatible with the legally required data protection level for health data, must be avoided. Your physiotherapist cannot be released from this legal obligation even by your express consent.
Only if necessary and on the basis of legal authorization, your relevant personal data (e.g., dunning, assertion of civil law claims arising from the treatment contract, for the purpose of criminal prosecution, provision of information and duty to cooperate for reasons of public interest in the area of public health danger (such as on the basis of the Epidemic Act 1950)) will be passed on to the authorities/tax office/judiciary for the specific purpose legally defined.

9. Disclaimer for Valuables Brought Along:
Bringing items by patients/clients is generally at their own risk. We assume no liability for damage or loss of valuables brought into the practice by patients/clients.