Sick leave in a private clinic. Can paid institutions issue ballots?

Private medical clinics are popular among Russian patients because they provide an expanded range of services, modern equipment, and the opening hours of paid medical institutions allow you to choose a convenient time to visit a doctor. In this regard, many working citizens ask the question: “Do they give sick leave in a paid clinic?”

Today we will tell you whether paid clinics are allowed to issue temporary sick leave certificates and what criteria a private medical institution must meet so that patients can go there in situations requiring sick leave.

Do they provide sick leave at a paid clinic?

Where can I apply for sick leave?

A certificate of incapacity for work in the established form and giving the right to receive compensation for the period of inability to perform work duties for health reasons from the social insurance fund are entitled to medical institutions. In this case, several conditions must be met so that the patient, after successful completion of treatment, has the opportunity to receive this document and present it to his employer. These include:

1. Availability of a license to carry out the relevant type of medical activity.
2. The presence of an appropriate specialist on the organization’s staff (for example, a therapist or otolaryngologist).
3. Having the right to provide not only consulting services in the field of medicine, but also to conduct treatment.

Regarding the last criterion, all clinics can be divided into two types:

Thus, medical and practical medical organizations that have the appropriate licenses and treating specialists on staff can issue this type of document.

Institutions issuing the form

You can obtain a sick leave certificate by contacting a doctor. The fact of illness should be recorded at the very beginning, because a retrospective bulletin is issued only if a doctor was called to the house or an ambulance arrived.

A certificate of incapacity for work is a document that records the presence of a disease and indicates the dates of the onset of the disease and its end, as well as admission to work. Since this form is the basis for receiving benefits and not attending work, it is a document of strict accountability. Accordingly, they can only be issued by specialized institutions that have the opportunity to purchase forms and enter information into them. Purchasing blank or completed forms from institutions that have no basis for issuing them is a criminal offense.

Ballots can be opened by medical institutions that have a specialized license. All medical organizations are divided according to a general classification into two types:

1. Consulting patients.
2. Providing not only consulting, but also practical assistance.

Although both types are subordinate to the all-Russian health organization, they have different opportunities.

State clinics

State clinics, hospitals and medical centers provide paid services along with free ones, but this does not in any way affect their ability to issue sick leave. All government medical institutions can provide bulletins to referred patients. There is a list of exceptions to the general rule.

State-issued medical institutions that are not included in the list of exceptions to the rules are licensed for two types of activities at once - consulting and practical, and therefore can issue bulletins. Forms of certificates of incapacity for work are purchased by clinics and hospitals in specialized institutions that have received permission from the State Sign to sell them.

Private clinics

With private medical clinics, everything is not so clear. On the one hand, there are no restrictions when choosing a medical institution in Russia. A citizen, when choosing a hospital, should be guided solely by his own beliefs. Treatment for a fee, although expensive, is often more convenient. This includes the absence of queues and a more loyal attitude towards patients. However, when choosing a clinic, the citizen himself should ask whether the institution has the official ability to issue ballots. To do this, you should request a license and make sure that the medical organization is allowed not only to consult, but also to treat patients.

Most paid medical centers specialize exclusively in consulting activities, although they do not advertise this. In fact, they can only take tests and conduct comprehensive studies of the body, but not receive recommendations for the treatment and elimination of identified diseases. Often the only way to find out about this is to request a ballot. Until this moment, they can position themselves as a medical institution, although they are not one.

Is it possible to take sick leave in a private clinic?

As can be seen from the previous section, the legislation does not impose requirements on the form of ownership of a medical organization. From this we can conclude that if certain requirements are met, a medical clinic has the right to issue its patient a certificate of incapacity for work, and the patient, in turn, can receive the necessary document after undergoing treatment in such a clinic.

The doctor's consultation

In order to receive sick leave in the future, you must first consult a doctor who specializes in the relevant disease. So, in case of a common acute respiratory viral infection, it is enough to consult a general practitioner; a sore throat is treated by an otolaryngologist, lung diseases are treated by a pulmonologist, etc. Accordingly, it is advisable to contact a private clinic when they have the right specialist on staff who can correctly diagnose and prescribe the correct treatment.

Patient treatment

In the event that a private healthcare clinic provides more than just consultations with patients, the attending physician of the organization has the right to prescribe the required treatment and monitor the dynamics of the health status of the person applying. If it is necessary to issue sick leave, the doctor will be bound by the legal requirements for the maximum periods of incapacity for work, which can be covered by sick leave. Also, during the treatment of a patient, a private clinic must strictly comply with social insurance legislation and departmental medical regulations.

Mandatory requirements for a medical institution

Private medical clinics are subject to general requirements that apply to both state and municipal healthcare institutions. In particular, in order to issue official documents on temporary disability, the clinic must have a medical license, allowing it not only to provide consultations to patients, but also to treat them.

Algorithm for completing the procedure

The following instructions will help you solve the problem of how to close your sick leave.

1. Contact your treating specialist. If the employee has recovered, the doctor will fill out the form. You need to take your passport, insurance policy and print out the company name. The company name is required to ensure that there are no errors when filling it out. The date when the person can resume work is written.
2. Wait until the doctor signs the document.
3. Make sure that three seals are placed. A closed sick leave certificate must be certified by three seals: the doctor’s personal seal, the official seal and the triangular seal. The registry puts the official seal and a triangular one. Detailed information about where to certify the document can be obtained from the clinic.

How to get sick leave in a private clinic

The procedure for obtaining this document generally looks the same for an organization of any form of ownership. In relation to a private clinic, you only need to first make sure that it has a license to carry out medical activities and the right to issue certificates of incapacity for work. So, the procedure for receiving sick leave here is as follows:

• clarification of the availability of permits that allow you to obtain an official document on temporary disability in a specific clinic;
• contacting the required specialist or initially contacting a therapist (family doctor) to receive initial prescriptions and referrals;
• collection of anamnesis by the attending physician, examination of the patient, making a preliminary diagnosis;
• if there are medical indications, a certificate of incapacity for work is opened and the necessary tests are prescribed;
• making a final diagnosis, prescribing treatment;
• extension of sick leave provided that all prescribed procedures are completed (including tests);
• filling out a certificate of incapacity for work in the event of the patient’s recovery within the established maximum period for issuing sick leave solely by the doctor.

Important! If the patient does not comply with the prescribed procedures and treatment, then the sick leave is closed until recovery. At the same time, information about the citizen’s violation of the prescribed treatment is entered into the document.

How to check the hospital where you can get a b/l?

The first step is to make sure whether the institution has such a right, that is, that it conducts practical activities and has a license to do so. Typically, such information is indicated on the institution’s website. Please note whether the license has expired. about sick leave at a doctor's appointment .

Next, you need to make an appointment at the clinic with a therapist or the necessary doctor and tell him about how you are feeling. Based on your condition and the norms prescribed by law, the doctor will open a sick leave for a certain period.

You can even open a sick leave when arriving in a foreign city , if such a need arises. For example, on a business trip or while on vacation. Insurance policies are valid throughout Russia.

Another option for opening a sick leave certificate is to invite a specialist to your home, if the selected clinic offers such a service.

How to properly draw up a certificate of incapacity for work

The rules for document execution have changed not long ago; from now on they are determined by Order of the Ministry of Health dated September 1, 2020 No. 925n. These rules are established for documents in printed and electronic form and do not differ in relation to state (municipal) or private medical organizations.

The sick note is filled out and signed by the attending physician, regardless of the form of the document. In the case of a printed document, it is handed over to the patient, and when an electronic sick leave is issued, the citizen is given his number, which must be reported to the employer. This document must be opened and closed in one medical organization, but it is possible to present several sick leave certificates from several healthcare institutions.

What does a sick note from a private clinic look like?

In contrast to the issuance rules, the form of the form in question, approved back in 2011 by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development No. 347n, continues to be relevant today. A correctly drawn up document must include the following information and information:

• information about the medical organization that issued the document;
• personal data of the patient (in particular, his name, date of birth);
• information about the citizen’s place of work for which the certificate of incapacity for work is provided;
• reasons for issuing the document (type of disease, need to care for a close relative);
• periods of incapacity for work and the calendar date from which the person discharged from sick leave must begin performing his labor function.

The sheet is signed by the attending physician (the document in electronic form is signed with an enhanced electronic digital signature of the doctor).

Issuing algorithm

Both state and non-state medical organizations issue bulletins according to a single algorithm. To draw up a document, it is necessary to first record the fact of illness or injury. To do this, you need to contact your local or attending physician, who will perform an examination and confirm its presence. On the same day, a certificate of incapacity for work is opened. It is given to the patient during outpatient treatment or kept by the doctor while in the hospital.

Patients who are being treated at home are required to visit the doctor at strictly prescribed times. To do this, a note about the date of the next appointment is placed on the form. Failure to appear at the appointed time is considered a violation of the hospital regime and entails negative consequences in the form of special marks or even forced closure of the document before the person recovers.

If the treatment is successful, the doctor closes the sick leave and gives permission to begin his direct work duties. A citizen can come to the workplace only after the ballot is closed.

Why not all paid clinics have permission to provide treatment?

On the one hand, the reason for this may be the reluctance of the clinic itself to carry out this type of activity. Some of them prefer to limit themselves to receiving patients and conducting consultations for them. On the other hand, obtaining a license to practice medicine is not an easy procedure and requires applicants to comply with many requirements, for example:

• ownership of premises;
• ownership or possession and use of medical equipment;
• medical personnel on staff of the organization, etc.

What to do if the clinic did not issue a sick leave certificate

The reasons why the patient did not receive the document he expected may be different. One of these may be the lack of a license or a specific type of medical activity in the current license of the organization. In this case, there are two possible courses of action.

The first of them is going to the state or municipal clinic to which the citizen is registered. To do this, he needs to collect all the documents that confirm the fact of visiting a doctor, prescribing a certain treatment, the fact of being in the hospital of a private clinic, etc. All supporting certificates and documents can be obtained from a private medical organization.

After collecting the documents, the doctor of the health care institution alone or the institution’s commission for conducting an examination for temporary disability will make a conclusion. On its basis, a certificate of incapacity for work may be issued.

It is advisable to resort to the second option if the state clinic also refused to issue a supporting document (but this can be done bypassing this stage). This method is to go to court with an application to establish a legal fact. Judicial practice has already been established in the country, according to which the social insurance fund is obliged to pay for sick leave for which certificates of incapacity for work were not issued, if the person has proven the fact of temporary incapacity for work due to illness.

Common mistakes

Error: Applying to a private, licensed clinic for an appointment with a doctor in order to obtain a sick leave certificate.

In reality, not all organizations with a medical license can issue this document. Those clinics that only receive patients and prescribe treatment may not have the right to issue certificates of incapacity for work. And only those organizations in whose license this type of activity is specified separately can issue an official sick leave.

Error: Fear of going to a private clinic if you need to get an official sick leave.

The legislator currently does not make any distinction depending on the form of ownership of a medical organization (state, municipal or private). If the clinic has a license (with the right to conduct an examination of temporary disability), you can safely contact a private clinic.

Rules for registering sick leave

A certificate of temporary incapacity for work issued in a paid center does not differ from that issued in a regular public hospital.

Clinics of all categories use uniform forms established by law. The sick leave sheet is a blue/blue sheet with fields printed on a PC for filling out.

A doctor from a paid clinic must fill out the document, based on the laws and requirements established by the Ministry of Health. Among the main rules for filling out and formatting paper are:

• The information on the front side is printed on a PC or by hand. If it is a pen, then the information is written in capital and clear block letters.
• When filling, you can use a fountain pen, gel pen or black capillary pen.
• Temporary deadlines for document renewal are established strictly on the basis of legislation
• A certificate of incapacity for work is issued for a period of 3 to 15 days. It all depends on the problem with which the patient came to the medical service center for help.
• The document cannot be unpaid or reduced on the sole basis that it was issued at a paid center

If the sick leave is filled out according to the rules, if it is not fake, the head of the enterprise has no right not to pay for it.

Answers to frequently asked questions

Question: A private clinic refused to issue a sick leave certificate. Is it legal?

Answer: A non-state clinic may refuse to issue a document confirming temporary disability due to illness to its patient only if they do not have the appropriate license or the patient himself violated the procedure for the prescribed treatment (in this case, sick leave opens and closes on the day of application).

Question: In what case can a private clinic issue a sick leave certificate that will be accepted by the employer?

Answer: The certificate of incapacity for work has a unified form, therefore public and private medical organizations issue a document of the same form. In any case, such a document cannot be ignored by the employer. The clinic has the right to issue such documents only if its license for the right to carry out medical activities includes such type of activity as conducting an examination for temporary disability.

Extension of a document on incapacity for work

Sometimes cases arise when it is necessary to extend a document. For example, a person did not recover after surgery or did not have time to recover for other reasons. The treating doctor can open the document for up to fifteen days. The decision on the extension is made by a commission of doctors appointed by the head of the medical institution.

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