OREANDA-NEWS. August 01, 2013. It did not take long to obtain the first results of the efforts of the Working Group on licensing medical activities, formed by the Expert Council at the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) for developing competition in the social sphere and health care. On 23rd July 2013, the Ministry of the Health Care of the Russian Federation issued explanations to No.121N Order which came into force on 11th March 2013, in the part of licensing medical activities.

On 27th June 2013, the Expert Council decided to form a joint Working Group together with the Ministry of the Health Care, the Federal Service for Supervision and Public Health and Social Development [Roszdravnadzor], the Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being [Rospotrebnadzor] and FAS representatives to devise proposals on amending normative legal acts on licensing medical activities.

Participants were mostly concerned about some provisions of No.121N Order, according to which medical institutions had to reregister their licenses for medical activities. The explanations issued by the Ministry of the Health Care upon discussions organized by the Working Group clarify that there is no need to reregister licenses if there are no grounds specified in Part 1 Article 18 of No.99-FZ Federal Law “On Licensing Certain Types of Activities”.

Another issue that generated hot discussions among members of the Expert Council was the issue of suspending activities of medical organizations for carrying out medical examinations for the period of obtaining a license. The explanations given by the Ministry of the Health Care allow such activities on the basis of the current license for the period of registering the new one.

Explanations issued by the Ministry of the Health Care also included an important item about rendering services under the programme for the government guarantees of free medical care. Organizations cannot refuse to provide such service under Article 11 of No.323-FZ Federal Law. Services, rendered by a medical organization in the period of reregistering their medical licenses including reorganization of the medical organization in the form of transformation or merger, must be paid for.

The forthcoming sessions of the Working Group will be devoted to clarifying the normative-legal framework regulating licensing of medical and pharmaceutical activities.