unternehmensnachfolge-anwalt.at
Mag. Bernhard Brandauer, Rechtsanwalt
How to transfer an Austrian medical practice: patient records, social insurance contracts, leases, data protection and the handover process.
Transferring a medical practice in Austria involves more than selling equipment, premises or a patient base. Organisational responsibility, ongoing contracts and, in many cases, the future of a social insurance contract must be coordinated. Patient rights, professional confidentiality and statutory retention duties continue throughout the transition.
The first step is to separate the issues. What is transferred as a business or practice location? Which professional duties remain with the current physician? Which requirements must the successor meet personally? A transaction can be economically agreed while the medical service or billing arrangement is still unclear.
This article provides a practical framework for Austria. The business succession topic page gives the broader context. The guide to documents for the first succession consultation helps organise contracts, figures and roles before the first meeting.
This check identifies the next workstream. It does not replace a review of the contracts, social insurance documents or patient records.
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List premises, equipment, brands, telephone numbers, domains, leases, employment contracts and ongoing patient processes. Only then can you assess whether this is an asset transfer or a genuine practice succession.
Collect the individual contract, plan position, responsible insurer and proposed successor. The economic transfer should not assume that the social insurance contract follows automatically.
For a private practice, identify treatment contracts, ongoing therapies, consents and the future use of records. Patient data does not automatically become available to the successor for every purpose.
Review billing statements, correspondence with the insurer and the latest contract documents. This distinguishes a plan position, an individual contract, a group practice and a purely private practice model.
The succession needs a clearly defined object. If the practice location is transferred as a going concern, premises, equipment, software, telephone numbers, website, staff and ongoing contracts are central. In a share transaction, the shares in a company change hands while the company remains the contractual party and management may change.
The personal practice of medicine is a separate issue. The successor must meet the applicable professional requirements personally. A company or a purchase price cannot replace a personal authorisation. Actual management should also match registrations, employment arrangements and representation rules.
This distinction affects price, liability and the handover documents. A transfer schedule is therefore the basis of the transaction, not a document to be postponed.
Section 51 of the Austrian Medical Act requires physicians to document consultation and treatment. This includes the patient's condition at the beginning of treatment, medical history, diagnosis, course of illness and the nature and extent of services. Records are not ordinary business inventory that can simply be handed over like furniture.
The current provision requires records and related documentation to be retained for at least ten years. The successor to a social insurance plan position, or otherwise the successor to the practice location, must take over the predecessor's records and retain them for the required period. Use for medical services requires the consent of the patient concerned.
The agreement should specify which records exist, how they are transferred, who may access them during the transition and who handles requests for information or copies. The first copy of a patient's documentation must be provided free of charge under section 51. If the practice closes without a medical successor, retention remains with the former practice owner.
In the event of death, section 51 contains specific duties for heirs or other successors. This is why an emergency procedure should be prepared even for a planned succession.
A practice often depends on a lease or use agreement that cannot be transferred to another legal entity without consent. Review term, termination rights, investments, operating costs and whether the successor may use the premises from the agreed date. In a share transaction, check change of control clauses.
For equipment, distinguish ownership, leasing, maintenance, finance and regulatory requirements. Software and medical data require a review of licences, user accounts and access rights. Passing on a password is not a reliable transfer process.
Staff preserve continuity of care. Identify people who will be retained, key functions and changes connected with the handover. Employment law must be reviewed separately. Referrers, suppliers and cooperation partners also need coordinated communication.
Patient records contain highly sensitive information. Section 54 of the Austrian Medical Act provides the framework for professional confidentiality and its statutory exceptions. The transfer must identify which data the successor needs for continuing treatment, on what basis access is permitted and how copies that are no longer needed are protected.
Consent to continued medical use is not the same as general consent to sell a practice. Use separate user accounts, logging, secure transfer and disable the former owner's access at the agreed time. Private devices, local exports and cloud storage belong in the handover record.
The guide to documents for the first succession consultation helps collect responsible persons and document groups.
A sound handover agreement identifies the date, assets and responsibilities. Schedules should identify equipment, contracts, staff, outstanding claims, liabilities, records and ongoing proceedings by clear categories.
State who treats patients, signs, bills and is responsible for technical or organisational errors during the transition. Price should be based on a traceable picture of patient relationships, turnover, services and investment needs.
Agree how to proceed if selection fails, the lease is delayed, an approval is missing or essential equipment breaks down. These provisions protect continuity without turning every unexpected event into a dispute.
Collect corporate or sole trader documents, the company register extract, lease, social insurance documents, equipment contracts, staff overview, financial statements and the records process. Then keep lists of everything that transfers, open consents and risks ordered by timing.
Only then should price, liability and the final agreement be settled. The succession risk check can highlight missing documents and critical clauses. It does not replace a contract review.
At the handover date, use a written protocol for keys, equipment, data access, files, open patient requests and billing status. A first post-handover review confirms that access, consent processes and billing routes work in practice.
A frequent error is assuming that the social insurance contract follows the purchase automatically. Another is an incomplete records register that omits electronic findings or old backups.
Patient information and data protection are often addressed only after signing. A shared user account in practice software is not a robust handover solution. Do not mix the transfer of premises and equipment with the successor's personal medical authorisation.
Finally, allocate outstanding fees, repayment claims, leases and old supplier invoices clearly. A date alone does not create a clean closing position.
The death of the current owner creates a different process from a planned handover. Section 51 contains specific duties for heirs or other successors regarding records. Section 343 ASVG addresses the end of a contract relationship in cases set out by law. An enduring power of attorney may support organisational acts during life, but it does not replace succession approval or estate planning.
For a group practice, clarify whether the practice, a share or only a physician's role is changing. The articles, individual contract, shareholder resolutions and medical responsibility must fit together. A private family agreement is not automatically sufficient for external organisation.
An illness before the agreed date may interrupt the transition. Address access to key documents, substitute arrangements, communication lines and decisions about ongoing patient care before the handover date. The family business transfer checklist can be expanded with practice-specific documents.
If a conflict arises, medical care and the economic dispute should be organised separately. Patients should not become leverage in a succession dispute.
Section 51 regulates takeover and retention by the successor to a social insurance plan position or practice location. Consent is relevant for using records for medical services. The agreement should define access and responsibility.
A plan position is not freely transferable like equipment. Selection and the individual contract are governed by section 343 ASVG, the collective agreement and coordination with the medical chamber.
Section 51(3) provides for retention for at least ten years. The process must also address access, information requests, backups and data protection.
Prepare a transfer schedule, social insurance and contract status, records register, lease and equipment contracts, staff overview, outstanding claims and a realistic handover date.
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Review the social insurance contract separately
A social insurance plan position is not an item of equipment that can be freely sold. Under section 343 ASVG, the social insurance institutions decide on the announcement of a position and initiate the selection procedure for contract physicians. Selection and the individual contract follow the collective agreement and require coordination with the competent medical chamber.
The agreement between the current physician and successor cannot replace this coordination. It should state which steps have been taken, who supplies documents and what happens if the proposed succession is not approved or does not proceed.
Section 343 ASVG also regulates when a contract relationship ends without notice. This includes the death of a contract physician and reaching the applicable age limit. Financial planning must use the actual contract status and agreed handover date. Review billing, outstanding fees, repayment claims and audits because they can affect price and the allocation of old and new cases.