The order of accreditation of medical institutions has changed

The Law of Ukraine "On State Financial Guarantees of Medical Care of the Population" came into force on January 30, 2018, which made changes to a number of normative acts in the sphere of healthcare, in particular, the Law of Ukraine "Fundamentals of the Legislation of Ukraine on Health Care" in terms of passing accreditation of medical institutions (hereinafter - MI)

The essence of the changes is shown in the table below:

• There is no need to go through a rather complicated and time-consuming accreditation procedure for all ultrasound services, even for those who operate in only a few specialties;
• Accreditation can still take be undergown by those medical establishments, which by virtue of the law should receive an accreditation certificate (for example, when issuing certificates of temporary incapacity for work, issuing certificates for certain categories of workers).

It should be noted that in addition to this initiative which has already been successfully implemented, there are also a number of projects aimed at addressing a number of related problems.

Thus, taking into account the mass reorganization of public health institutions of communal belonging into communal non-profit enterprises and the creation of new ones, the issue of issuance of certificates of temporary incapacity for work by such enterprises remains unresolved. The fact is that according to the order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 189 dated 09.04.2008, which approved the regulation on the examination of temporary disability, such examination is carried out subject to the availability of a license of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for the right to carry out economic activities in medical practice and a certificate of state accreditation of a health care institution regardless of the form of ownership.

At the same time, in the order of accreditation (approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Order on July 15, 1997 № 765) it is provided that the first accreditation of the medical establishment must be held two years after the beginning of the activity. Thus, in the current situation, the new medical establishment can remain without the right to conduct an accreditation of working capacity for the next 2 years, which is a significant problem throughout Ukraine.

In order to address this issue, a project was submitted to the Ministry of Healthcare, which should amend the regulations on the conduct of computer science. The regulatory act is to be supplemented with the following provision: "Newly established health care institutions regardless of their form of ownership have the right to carry out the temporary disability assessment without an accreditation certificate of a health care institution, but such term should not exceed the term of the first accreditation of a health care institution in accordance with the Procedure for Accreditation of a Health Care Institution approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 765 dated July 15, 1997.

Unlike voluntary accreditation, which has already entered into force, changes in the part of temporary disability assessment are still waiting for approval, and by that time medical institutions will have to find interim solutions on how to legally issue certificates of temporary incapacity for work to their patients.

If you have any questions about the accreditation of health care institutions, please contact the lawyers in the field of medical law.