Conditions for high-quality and secure provision of health care services
Authorisation for the provision of health care services
Conditions for the establishment of public health-care institutions
Conditions for the provision of private health-care services
Conditions for concessionaires
Conditions for pharmacies
Conditions for natural health resorts
Health-care providers
National and foreign legal and natural persons may provide health care services on the basis of an authorisation by the Ministry of Health, provided they meet the statutory conditions. Health care is provided as a public service under the same conditions by public health-care institutions and other legal and natural persons on the basis of a concession.
At the primary level, a public health-care institution (hereinafter referred to as: PHCI) may be established, modified, expanded or terminated only with the consent of the Ministry of Health, upon a preliminary opinion of the Health Insurance Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter referred to as: HIIS).
A preliminary opinion of HIIS for the establishment, modification, expansion or termination of a health-care institution is also required at the secondary and tertiary levels.
Professional and technical conditions to be met by PHCI for the provision of health-care services, as well as the verification and control procedures are stipulated in:
- Rules on the verification procedure concerning health-care programmes and services carried out in health-care and health resort services,
- Rules on drafting and adopting technical guidelines in health-care and health resort services,
- List of published technical guidelines,
- Spatial technical guideline TSG-12640-001:2008 Health care facilities (July 2008),
- Rules on professional and technical conditions regarding the equipment and personnel in institutes of public health, and on the method, procedure and deadlines for the fulfilment of conditions for the verification of institutes of public health,
- Rules on professional and technical conditions regarding the equipment and personnel in natural health resorts.
Private health-care workers may provide private health care services under conditions laid down in article 35 of the Health Care Services Act, namely:
- they have the education required for the provision of services and are qualified for independent work,
- they are not employed,
- they are not prohibited from providing health-care services or exercising their profession,
- they must have appropriate premises, equipment and, if required by the nature of their work, also adequate personnel provided,
- they must obtain an opinion of the competent chamber or professional association if there is no competent chamber.
A health-care worker who fulfils the above-mentioned conditions may begin providing private health-care services as of the day of issuing the decision on entry in the Register of Private Health-Care Workers.
The Register is managed by the Ministry of Health, except for the Register of Private Medical Practitioners and Dentists, which is managed by the Medical Chamber of Slovenia, and the Register of Nursing Practitioners, which is managed by the Chamber of Health-Care and Midwifery Services of Slovenia.
A concessionaire is a legal or natural person that fulfils the conditions for a private undertaking and has been awarded a concession with an administrative decision by a competent concession provider (i.e. a municipality at the primary level, and the Ministry of Health at the secondary level).
A pharmacy must have adequate personnel, premises and equipment with regard to the scope of services it provides, as well as a sufficient stock and types of medications.
More detailed conditions to be met by pharmacies or pharmacy branches with regard to personnel, premises and equipment are specified in the Rules on conditions for providing pharmaceutical services.
Pursuant to the Natural Healing Remedies and Natural Health Resorts Act, a natural health resort may be established if:
- the healing properties of the natural remedy to be used in the health resort have been demonstrated,
- indications and contraindications have been established,
- adequately arranged premises, adequate equipment and devices for examinations, treatment, nursing, accommodation and care of patients are guaranteed,
- adequate hygiene practices are established in the health resort,
- a sufficient number of medical, professional and other staff is guaranteed.
At the primary level:
- primary health care is provided in particular by:
- health-care centres ,
- health-care stations and
- private health-care workers;
- pharmacy services are provided by:
- public institutions and
- pharmacists (private undertakings with concession).
At the secondary level:
specialist out-patient services are provided by:
- hospitals:
- health resorts, and
- private specialist practitioners;
- specialist hospital services are provided by:
At the tertiary level, health-care services are provided by:
- clinics,
- clinical institutes, and
- clinical departments .
Legal provisions laying down the conditions to be met by health-care providers:
- Health Services Act (hereinafter referred to as: HSA),
- Pharmacies Act (hereinafter referred to as: PA),
- General Practioners Services Act (hereinafter referred to as: GPSA),
- Natural Healing Remedies and Natural Resorts Act,
- Patient Rights Act, and
- regulations adopted on the basis of these Acts.