Austria

Find a doctor (Vertragsarzt) who has a contract with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund, Österreichische Gesundheitskassa. These doctors or dentists usually display a sign saying “Kassenarzt” (contracted doctor) or “Alle Kassen” (all insurance funds), indicating they are part of the public healthcare system.

Present your European Health Insurance Card and ID at the appointment. You should receive treatment free of charge, as the local health insurance fund will reimburse the costs directly to the place of treatment, except for any possible patient co-payment.

If you go to a private doctor who does not have a contract with the health insurance fund, you will have to pay for the treatment at the doctor’s office. However, you may be eligible for partial reimbursement of the treatment costs. Keep all receipts and apply for reimbursement from Kela afterwards.  

Only a limited range of dental treatment is covered by the Austrian public healthcare system. Dental costs are reimbursed in cases of medically necessary treatment. Find a dentist (Zahnarzt) who has a contract with the “Österreichische Gesundheitskassa”. Show your European Health Insurance Card and ID. You will then receive certain procedures either at a partially reduced rate or free of charge. You can also see a private dentist, but you must then pay for treatment at the appointment yourself first.

A doctor who has a contract with one of the health insurance funds will issue a prescription that entitles you to reimbursement (Kassenrezept). When you go to collect your prescription medicines from a pharmacy, show your European Health Insurance Card and ID. You will receive the medicines at the standard co-payment rate.

If you have a prescription issued by a private doctor (Privatrezept), it may be accepted as a reimbursable prescription (Kassenrezept) either by a pharmacy or the regional health insurance fund, depending on the medicine. Medicines prescribed by a private doctor must always be paid in full at the pharmacy. However, keep all pharmacy receipts. You may be eligible for partial reimbursement from the local health insurance fund.

In Austria, prescriptions are generally valid for 12 months from the date of issue, unless the doctor has specified a shorter validity period. However, the medicine must be collected for the first time within one month of the prescription date.

You can access hospital treatment with a referral from a general practitioner or specialist. If the doctor decides to refer you to hospital care, you will be given a voucher that entitles you to treatment at the co-payment rate. The amount of the co-payment may vary slightly between Austria´s federal states. The doctor will usually recommend a public hospital, as these have a contract with the regional health fund (Landesgesundheitsfonds). At the hospital, you will pay an affordable daily fee under the general fee class (die allgemeine Gebührenklasse), up to 28 calendar days per year at maximum.

In an emergency, you can go directly to the emergency department of a public hospital. Show your European Health Insurance Card and ID, and ask the hospital to confirm with the health insurance fund that the costs of you treatment under standard care (general level) will be covered.

There are also private hospitals in Austria. If you seek treatment on your own initiative at a private hospital, or if you are taken to one in an emergency, you will need to pay the costs yourself first.

Emergency ambulance transport is usually free of charge if a rescue organization contracted with the health insurance fund is called. The contracted organisations may vary between provinces. Information is available from the regional health insurance fund. Rescue transport from mountain areas due to sports or leisure-related injuries is not free of charge.  In such cases, the patient is usually responsible for covering the cost of the transport.

Remember to make sure that your patient data is transferred between countries. You can provide those responsible for your follow-up care or your health centre with the patient records concerning the treatment you received abroad. If the patient records need to be translated, you will be responsible for arranging that yourself.

The Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection of Austria provides information about the quality standards for hospital treatment. These standards apply to all healthcare providers, who must, upon request by a patient of other party, demonstrate that they meet the relevant standards.

You can also find more information about quality standards for practitioners from the Austrian Institute for Quality Assurance and Management in Medicine (Österreichische Gesellschaft für Qualitätssicherung & Qualitätsmanagement in der Medizin, ÖQMED).

The Austrian healthcare system is based on statutory social insurance. Healthcare is funded by Austrian social health insur­ance funds, the Federal Government and the provinces, other social security institu­tions, or local governments. Patients are free to choose their family physician and have unrestricted access to most other types of medical care. Family physicians are usually contracted by the social health insurance funds.

The Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (BMASGPK) is responsible for general health policy and the protection of public health in Austria. It drafts legislation and acts as a decision-maker, supervisory authority, and coordinator among the key actors in the healthcare system. In the area of hospital care, legislative and executive responsibilities lie with the individual provinces.