Generel Terms and Conditions (GTC)

§ 1 Range of application of the GTC

a) The GTC fix the business relations between the therapist and the patient as treatment contract within the meaning of § 630a and additionally of §§ 611 et seq German Civil Code (BGB) unless deviating provisions have been agreed in writing between the Contracting Parties.
b) The treatment contract comes into being when the patient accepts the general offer made by the therapist to perform the therapy on everyone, and consults the therapist for advice, diagnosis and therapy.
c) However, the therapist shall be entitled to reject a treatment contract without stating reasons, in particular when a necessary relationship of trust cannot be expected to develop or when the patient is complaining about health problems which the therapist cannot treat or is not allowed to treat for reasons of specialization or for legal reasons or for reasons which might plunge the therapist into serious moral conflicts.
In such case, the therapist`s claims for the remuneration of the fees for the services rendered, including advisory services, until the rejection of the contract will remain preserved.

§ 2 Purpose and contents of the treatment contract

a) The therapist provides his/her services to the patient in a way that he/she applies his/her knowledge and capabilities in the execution of the osteopathic treatment and massage for giving advice, diagnosis and therapy to the patient. The concept is based on a holistic treatment serving the unity of body, spirit and soul.
b) The patient is free to decide on the diagnostic and therapeutic methods according to his/her personal feelings and attitudes after having been informed in great detail by the therapist, based on medical and economic facts, about the pros and cons of the available methods. If the patient does not take a decision or is not able to take a decision, the therapist will have the right to apply that method which would correspond to the “presumed will” of the patient.
c) In doing so, methods are regularly applied which are not accepted in the traditional medical science and which are not state-of-the-art. In general, these methods cannot be explained in a causal-functional way, and thus, they are not purposeful.
Thus, the subjectively expected success of the method can neither be held in prospect nor guaranteed. If the patient refuses the application of such methods and wants to be advised, diagnosed or treated exclusively according to scientifically accepted methods of the traditional medical science, he/she will have to declare this in writing towards the therapist.
d) The therapist is not entitled to issue sickness certificates or to prescribe medicines which are only available on prescription.

§ 3 Participation of the patient

The patient is not obliged to cooperate actively. Regardless of this, the therapist will have the right to stop treatment if the necessary relationship of trust is no longer maintained, in particular if the patient refuses contents of advice, supplies only insufficient or incorrect information regarding anamnesis and diagnosis, or prevents therapeutic measures.

§ 4 Remuneration of the therapist

a) The therapist is entitled to remuneration for the services rendered. Unless the remuneration has been agreed upon individually between the therapist and the patient, the remuneration rates, which are available for inspection in the business premises at any time, will apply.
b) The remuneration has to be paid in cash to the therapist for each day of treatment against receipt. At the end of a treatment period, the patient can get a receipt if desired. On the patient’s request, payment can also be made by bank transfer or direct debit, which must be agreed upon/acknowledged in writing by the therapist.
c) If the therapist provides third-party services which are not supervised professionally by him/her (e.g. cosmetic treatments, foot reflexology), the therapist will be entitled to claim the amounts charged by the third party as component parts of his/her own fee invoice, and to invoice these expected amounts to the patient as specified in Section b). These amounts must be specified separately in all invoices and receipts.
d) In the cases described in Section c), the therapist is exempted from the restrictions of § 181 BGB and will be entitled – as the representative of the patient – to conclude legal transactions between the third party (e.g. the masseuse) and himself/herself. This shall even be valid if § 181 BGB had to be applied to the legal relationship between the therapist and third parties (for example, group practices), irrespective of the exemption in this respect. The prohibition of granting advantage as specified in Section c) remains unaffected.
e) The distribution of recommended medicines to the patient by pharmacies constitutes direct business not covered by these GTC, and, thus, will not have an effect on the therapist’s remuneration scheme or accounting principles. This also applies to over-the-counter medicines, food supplements and other medical products which are recommended by the therapist and which can be purchased by the patient in relevant outlets. In such cases, the patient has the free choice of the pharmacy or outlet. In the case of prescription medicines, the therapist has no right of refund of expenses nor shall he be granted any advantages.

§ 5 Reimbursement of remuneration by third parties

a) As far as the patient has a claim to the complete or partial reimbursement of the remuneration by third parties or as far as the patient believes to have such claim, §4 will remain unaffected. The therapist does not carry out direct settlement, and, thus, cannot defer the remuneration or parts of the remuneration amount in regard of a possible reimbursement.
b) As far as the therapist – in the framework of the financial consultancy according to §2 Section b) – provides information to the patient about the reimbursement policies applied by third parties, this information will be non-binding. In particular, the normal remuneration rates do not apply as agreed remuneration within the meaning of §4, Section a), and the scope of the therapeutic services according to §2, Section b) shall not be restricted to recoverable services.
c) The therapist will not provide direct information to the third party with regard to reimbursement issues. All information and necessary evidence will exclusively be handed over to the patient. Such services are subject to payment.

§ 6 Confidentiality of treatment

a) The therapist will treat the patient data as confidential, and supply any information regarding diagnosis, consultancy and therapy as well as associated circumstances and the personal situation of the patient only with the express written consent of the patient. In the case that the provision of information is in the interest of the patient and that the patient’s consent shall be reasonably assumed, the written agreement can be waived.
b) Section a) will not be effective in the case that the therapist is obliged to data transfer because of legal provisions, for example in the case of statutory duty of notification of certain diagnoses, or that the therapist is obliged to provide information by official or court order. This applies also to the provision of information to a primary carer, but not to the provision of information to the spouse, relatives or family members. Furthermore, Section a) will not be effective in the case that in connection with the consultancy, diagnosis or therapy personal attacks against the patient or the patient’s professional activity are launched and that the patient can exonerate himself through the use of applicable data or facts.
c) The therapist maintains written records of his/her services (reference files). The patient is not entitled to obtain access to these files nor does the patient have the right to claim the delivery of the files. Section b) remains unaffected.
d) As far as the patients claims access to a treatment or medical record, the therapist will compile this dossier from the reference files subject to payment and remuneration. As far as originals are contained in the reference files, a copy of these documents will be attached to the treatment record. The copies will be provided with a note (printed stamp or sticker) stating that the originals can be found in the reference files.
e) Reference files will be destroyed by the therapist 30 years after the last treatment or 10 years after the patient’s death. However, the reference files will not be destroyed in the case that there are specific indications that they might be eligible for purposes of proof.

§ 7 Invoicing

a) After the conclusion of the treatment, the patient receives an invoice on request, in addition to the receipts as specified in §4. The invoice contains the therapist’s name, address and tax number as well as the patient’s name, address and date of birth. Furthermore, the treatment period and paid remunerations as well as third parties’ services and additional services are specified.
b) If for reasons of proof or entitlement to reimbursement the patient wishes to receive a copy of the invoice which specifies the diagnosis or the applied therapy allowing to draw conclusions regarding the diagnosis, instructions on the breach of confidentiality must be given, and a written order has to be issued by the patient.

§ 8 Final provisions – Differences of opinion and Safeguarding clause

a) Differences of opinion arising from the treatment contract and the GTC should be settled amicably. In such case, it is recommended to submit to the other contractual party counter arguments, divergent opinions or complaints in writing, and to provide explanations.
b) Any business relations between the patient and the therapist are subject exclusively to German law.
c) Should individual clauses of the treatment contract or the GTC be or become invalid or void, the effectiveness of the treatment contract will overall remain unaffected. Moreover, the invalid or void provision shall be replaced in a free interpretation by a provision which comes closest to the purpose of the contract and the will of the parties concerned.