Patient information under the EU patients' rights Directive

Abstract

After 2.5 years of deliberation, the European Parliament and Council have recently adopted the Directive on patients’ rights in cross-border health care. As the first harmonization Directive concerning health care, this may be regarded as a legislative milestone for the European Union. In broad terms, the Directive concerns the following three topics: 1. the ‘old’ patients’ rights that codify the case law of the Court on reimbursement of cross-border health care; 2. ‘new’ patients’ rights that concern transparency and accountability; and 3. enhanced cooperation between the Member States. In this contribution, we will focus on the new patients’ rights, in particular those concerning transparency. In the Directive as adopted in February 2010: Hence, the information to …