Summary.
The draft bill would add a requirement to Law 68 of November 20, 2003, for private healthcare facilities to provide a written medical report immediately and at no additional cost when they refer or transfer a patient to another public or private facility. The report would identify the patient; state the reasons for admission and transfer and the provisional or definitive diagnosis; describe the patient’s clinical condition at the time of transfer; and record the treatments, medications, and procedures provided. It would also include available test results needed for continued care, medical recommendations, pending treatment, and the responsible physician’s name, signature, and professional license number.
The bill would add a prohibition applying to all healthcare facilities under the same law. They could neither refuse nor delay delivery of the medical report, clinical summary, or indispensable copies of the medical record, nor make delivery conditional on the economic, insurance coverage, payment guarantee, administrative, or financial circumstances listed in the article. Payment for services provided would be treated as a separate legal relationship and would not affect continuity of the patient’s medical care.
The bill also proposes amending the provision on access to medical records. The added paragraph would require the originating facility to deliver the indispensable clinical documentation when a patient is transferred to another facility. Delivery could be in physical or electronic form and would have to take place before or at the time of transfer. This provision concerns the documentation needed to maintain care as the patient moves between facilities, whereas the requirement to produce a written medical report expressly applies to private facilities.
The draft bill assigns the Ministry of Health (ministerio de Salud) responsibility for establishing, by regulation, a standard format for the Medical Transfer Report and the procedure for delivering it. It would classify failure to comply with the bill’s requirements as a health regulation violation subject to the corresponding administrative sanctions. Those sanctions would not preclude any civil, criminal, or professional ethics liability arising from the same conduct. Both final articles state, in identical terms, that the law would take effect on the day following its promulgation.
In the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá), the bill concerns the work of the Ministry of Health and the public and private healthcare facilities involved in patient transfers. It could also be relevant to patients, physicians, and insurers because of its provisions on clinical documentation, continuity of care, and circumstances involving insurance coverage.
What it proposes.
- Delivery of medical reports when patients are transferred or referred.
- Access to clinical documentation needed for continued care.
- Prohibition on conditioning the release of medical information on administrative or financial circumstances.
- Report format, delivery procedure, and health regulation violations.
Who it would affect.
- Private healthcare facilities that refer or transfer patients.
- Healthcare facilities that hold clinical information.
- Patients transferred to another healthcare facility.
- Physicians responsible for transfer reports.
Key points.
- Private facilities would provide a written medical report immediately and at no additional cost when referring or transferring a patient to another public or private facility.Art. 1
- The report would contain identification details, reasons for admission and transfer, diagnosis, clinical condition, care provided, necessary test results, recommendations, pending treatment, and identification of the responsible physician.Art. 1
- No facility could refuse, delay, or condition delivery of indispensable clinical information based on the specified administrative or financial circumstances.Art. 2
- Payment for services provided would be treated as a legal relationship separate from continuity of medical care.Art. 2
- The originating facility would provide indispensable clinical documentation in physical or electronic form before or at the time of transfer.Art. 3
- The Ministry of Health would establish the standard Medical Transfer Report format and its delivery procedure by regulation.Art. 4
- Noncompliance would be a health regulation violation subject to administrative sanctions, without excluding potential civil, criminal, or professional ethics liability.Art. 5
- Both final articles set the effective date as the day following promulgation.Arts. 6-7