General Terms
of
Sportklinik Arlberg GmbH
Sollederweg 5
A-6580 St. Anton am Arlberg
(hereinafter referred to as “Clinic”)
1 Scope
1.1. These General Terms shall govern the contractual relation between the Patient and the Clinic, and shall apply to all inpatient as well as ambulatory treatments of patients of the Clinic.
1.2. The rights and duties of the patients shall be governed by these General Terms. Subsidiary to these, the provisions of the Hospitals Act of the federal state of Tyrol (Tir KAG) and the Federal Act on Hospitals and Health Spa Clinics (KAKuG) and the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) shall apply.
2 Request for admission and hospitalisation by the patient
2.1. In principle, patients are only admitted to the Clinic after being referred by a physician. In special circumstances, patients may also be admitted without a referral.
2.2. The patient shall immediately notify the Clinic of his/her preferred affiliated physician. This may also be done by implication.
2.3. Admission to the Clinic shall be carried out through material act.
3 Hospitalisation agreement
3.1. The patient’s admission to the Clinic shall constitute a Hospitalisation Agreement between the Clinic and the patient, which shall govern the hospitalisation and inpatient care in the Clinic.
3.2. On the occasion of the patient’s admission, the patient declares to the Clinic his request for admission. The fees for care and hospitalisation, which the patient shall agree to upon his admission, shall be charged based on the actual duration of hospitalisation.
3.3. On the occasion of the patient’s admission, the patient shall pay the estimated medical expenses to the Clinic. The Clinic shall be entitled to reject the patient if the requested payment has not been fully settled. In the event that the patient is merely asked to pay an adequate payment on account, the patient shall be obliged to immediately replenish any exhausted payments on account in the amount demanded upon notice by the Clinic.
3.4. Where patients have supplementary health insurance, the Clinic may refrain from the patient’s obligation to pay in case of a declaration of assumption of costs by the insurer. As a rule, the declaration of assumption of costs shall be produced by the patient upon the patient’s admission. The patient may, however, authorise the Hospital to request the declaration of assumption of costs from the insurer in the patient’s name.
3.5. This Hospitalisation Agreement shall be subject to:
The General Terms, the fees for care and hospitalisation, special remunerations, as well as medical fees as posted, and the admission form signed by the patient.
3.6. For subsequent amendments and supplements to be valid, a written confirmation by the Clinic shall be required.
4 Treatment contract
4.1. The Treatment Contract shall be concluded between the patient and the attending physician. It shall be emphasised that all physicians working in the Clinic act as affiliated physicians and are not employed by the Clinic, and the Clinic shall not be liable for their conduct or the conduct of third parties consulted by said physicians. Besides the medical treatment and care, the Treatment Contract shall, in particular, also comprise the necessary patient information and its documentation by the physician, the patient’s consent to the proposed medical treatment, the agreement on fees for the service of the treating physician, any subordinate physicians, consultants and other vicarious agents.
4.2. In case of referral by the subsequently treating affiliated physician, a Treatment Contract between said physician and the patient – in any form whatsoever – shall be deemed to have been concluded for the Clinic.
4.3. In the event that no treating physician is designated by the patient, the Clinic or its ward physician on duty shall tentatively propose a treating physician, who shall subsequently become active as the patient’s affiliated physician. Acceptance of the proposal by the patient as well as the effective assumption of the patient’s treatment shall constitute a Treatment Contract between the patient and the subsequently treating affiliated physician. Unless the patient objects to the nature and method of the treatment proposed by the treating physician, the patient’s explicit consent thereto shall be deemed to be given for the Clinic.
4.4. In the event that the existence of an agreement on fees is not demonstrable, or if there are disputes about the agreement on fees, any medical services can, in any case, be invoiced in the amount of the fees agreed between the Clinic and the Austrian Insurance Federation. For patients who have not taken out supplementary health insurance with an insurance company belonging to the Austrian Insurance Federation or another insurance company which has concluded an agreement on the direct billing of fees with the Clinic, the fees as stipulated in the Clinic’s price list for self-paying patients in their current version shall be deemed as agreed.
5 Fees for care and special fees (hospital charges, medical fees, etc.) and other charges
5.1. The Clinic shall charge fees for care and hospital charges as well as supplementary and special fees or charges for the admission, accommodation, board, attendance and other care of the patient.
5.2. Besides fees for care and hospital charges, in particular the following special charges shall be levied:
a) costs of transporting the patient to or from the Clinic;
b) the provision of medical aids and prostheses;
c) so-called “technical” services such as laboratory tests, radiography, physiotherapy, ECG, ultrasonic examinations, CT scanning, MRI, pathological and histological examinations;
d) deductibles of social insurance carriers and deductibles of supplementary insurances;
e) medical fees for all medical examinations and treatments.
5.3. The full amount of the fees for care and hospital charges shall be levied for the day of admission and the day of discharge of a patient.
5.4. The fees are announced on the notice board of the Clinic and a list of fees shall be handed out to the patient upon request.
5.5. Medical fees of treating affiliated physicians and their vicarious agents shall be levied in their name, for their account and at their risk.
5.6. Charges for additional services such as telephone call charges, additional food and drinks, as well as special administrative services (secretarial services, photocopies, facsimiles, etc.) shall be invoiced separately according to actual expenditure. The amount of the respective charges shall be announced on the notice board.
6 Terms of payment
6.1. Where the Clinic provides a detailed written cost estimate, the patient shall take note that cost estimates are issued without commitment (subject to correction) and according to an average healing process and course of treatment with regard to the duration of hospitalisation and the projected medical treatment, and may, in individual cases and depending on the actual healing process and course of treatment, in particular in the case of complications, also be substantially exceeded.
6.2. All fees and other charges as announced shall be understood inclusive of any statutory taxes and levies.
6.3. Fees for care, hospital charges and special charges, as well as other charges and contributions to costs shall be due on the day the Clinic issues the invoice. After a period of 6 weeks has elapsed, the Clinic shall be entitled to charge default interest at a rate of 4% per month from the due date plus reminder fees and collection charges.
6.4. It shall be the patient’s sole liability to pay.
6.5. The patient’s liability to pay shall remain in force regardless of any insurance coverage through social or supplementary insurance, and shall not be superseded by any agreement on direct billing of fees between the Clinic and the insurance company.
7 Contractual relations with social insurance carriers and supplementary insurances
7.1. The Clinic may settle the statutory insurance shares of the social insurance carrier as well as fees for care, hospital charges, special charges and medical fees with the social insurance carrier, with the insurance company or with the patient.
7.1.1. Settlement with the social insurance carrier and the supplementary insurance company:
Provided that a direct settling agreement between the Clinic and the social insurance carrier or the supplementary insurance company of the patient is in place, the respective shares of the fee for care shall initially be settled with the social insurance carrier or, after receipt of a confirmation of cost coverage, directly with the insurance company.
In the case of full or partial refusal of cost coverage (also in the event of insufficient tariffs, underinsurance or deductibles) by the social insurance carrier or the supplementary insurance company, for whichever reasons, the patient shall be liable for all fees and charges to their full amount as announced and/or as laid out in 4.4 and 6.5 for the payment to the Clinic.
7.1.2. Settlement with the patient:
If no direct settling agreements between the Clinic and the social insurance carrier or the supplementary insurance company are in place, the Clinic shall settle all fees, medical fees and other charges, less any cost shares assumed by a social insurance carrier if applicable, with the patient in a separate invoice.
This invoice may be submitted to the respective social security carrier or insurance company in original and accompanied by a confirmation of payment after settlement of the invoiced amount by the patient for a refund.
7.2. The Clinic shall assume no liability for the amount and extent of the reimbursement by the social security carrier or insurance companies.
7.3. The Clinic shall inform the patient of existing direct settling agreements on its notice board or in the course of issuing a cost estimate.
8 Exclusion from insurance coverage
8.1. The following are usually excluded from direct settling and from insurance coverage:
a.) cosmetic treatments
b.) measures for the rehabilitation and care of patients with chronic diseases
8.2. All fees, medical fees and other charges for such treatments shall in every case be borne by the patient and shall be settled with the patient as stipulated in 7.1.2 without exception.
9 Liability and compensation
9.1. The clinic shall assume no liability for the medical treatment of the patient by the treating physician, his vicarious agents and consultants called in by the physician. The patient shall release the Clinic from any liability in this regard, except for joint liability of the Clinic in case of gross negligence or intent to be proven by the patient.
9.2. For the medical treatment the treating affiliated physician and his vicarious agents and, if applicable, the consultants called in by the physician shall be held liable by the patient.
9.3. Any liability of the Clinic for damage to the patient caused by slight negligent performance in connection with the services comprised in the hospitalisation agreement (excluding personal injury) shall be excluded.
10 Discretion obligation
10.1. The Clinic and its employees shall be bound by the obligation of professional secrecy in accordance with the Federal Act on Hospitals and Health Spa Clinics (KAKuG) and the Hospitals Act of the federal state of Tyrol (Tir KAG).
10.2. The patient shall, however, authorise the Clinic to forward the necessary information to the social insurance carriers and supplementary insurance companies, in particular for obtaining the confirmation of cost coverage and for settlement of accounts.
10.3. The patient shall agree to the automated processing of his personal data, data on scope and extent of medical treatments, and other services comprised in the hospital agreement.
11 Liability for loss of valuables
The Clinic shall assume no liability for valuables unless they have been deposited with the management or in a lockable safe specially provided for the storage of valuables.
12 Institutional house rules
The patient shall be obliged to adhere to the institutional house rules, which shall be available for inspection at the reception, and impose this duty on any accompanying persons or visitors. In the event of serious infringements of the provisions contained in the institutional house rules the Clinic shall be entitled to immediately dissolve the hospitalisation agreement and, in case of continued need for hospitalisation, transfer the patient to another Clinic at the patient’s own cost and risk.
13 Permission to leave, declaration
The patient shall not be permitted to leave the premises of the Clinic without obtaining prior written confirmation by the Clinic and the treating physician or his representative. The patient acknowledges that this may not be blamed on the employees of the Clinic or the Clinic itself.
14 Place of fulfilment and place of jurisdiction
For the settlement of any disputes arising from the hospitalisation agreement the factually and locally competent court for 6580 St. Anton am Arlberg shall be the exclusive place of jurisdiction. Place of performance for all mutual performances shall be the location of the Clinic. Austrian law shall apply exclusively.
15 Final provisions
Should any of the provisions of these General Terms prove ineffective, this shall not affect the validity of all remaining provisions.