Legal changes to the organization and operation of medical cabinets
<h3 style="line-height: 1.39; margin-bottom: 11px;">With more than 40.500 active businesses in the health and social assistance services, the Government Ordinance no. 9 / 2025 introduces greater clarity to the organization and the operation of medical activity. Despite the interpretations aroused in the public area, whereby the medical practitioner may only practice as an owner or administrator, as an employee or as an independent individual, the medical practitioners can still organize in grouped or associated cabinets.</h3>

<p>Accordingly, the following clarifications are necessary regarding the novelties introduced by this normative act:</p>

<h3><strong>Forms of organization</strong></h3>

<p>The new regulation introduces a broad and detailed classification, which is well-defined and offers a variety of organizational possibilities. Besides being practiced as a liberal profession, a medical office with legal status may take the form of</p>

<ul>
	<li aria-level="1">Companies, applying the provisions of Companies’ Law no. 31 / 1990;</li>
	<li aria-level="1">NGOs, regulated by the Government Ordinance no. 26/2000;</li>
	<li aria-level="1">Medical cabinets under religious organizations or places of worship;</li>
	<li aria-level="1">Sports medicine cabinets.</li>
</ul>

<p>The forms established under the previous regulation remain in effect for medical cabinets without legal personality, such as individual/grouped/associated/ medical civil companies. Occupational medicine, organized by public institutions for their employees, and medical cabinets within the structure of ministries and institutions with their healthcare system, are included.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Forms of collaboration&nbsp;</strong></h3>

<p>The clarifications brought by the Romanian lawmaker to these aspects have sparked controversies, especially among those medical practitioners working in the private healthcare area. We consider that the new provisions do not limit the medical practitioner’s right to practice by forming groups or in association with other medical cabinets, remaining mandatory to occupy one of these positions:</p>

<ul>
	<li aria-level="1">Owner/administrator;</li>
	<li aria-level="1">Employee;</li>
	<li aria-level="1">Independent individual, under a contract with the medical cabinet.</li>
</ul>

<p>An effective way to group or collaborate between medical cabinets remains the joint venture, whereby each member is entitled to a share in the profits and losses of one or more operations that they jointly undertake.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The main obligation of the partners to the joint venture is to contribute with assets, money, specific knowledge or other services, related to their medical activity. In relation to third parties each of the venture members retains their individual status.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Therefore, the collaboration between medical practitioners and medical cabinets should only be reorganized: the service contract may be replaced by a joint venture agreement.</p>

<h3><strong>Object of activity</strong></h3>

<p>Irrespectively of the form of organization, the medical cabinet may deploy healthcare activities:</p>

<ul>
	<li aria-level="1">only as their unique or main activity within the NACE class of Medical and dental practice activities</li>
	<li aria-level="1">as main or secondary activities within the NACE class of Other human health activities or</li>
	<li aria-level="1">as main or secondary activities within the NACE classes of Education and Scientific research and development.</li>
</ul>

<h3><strong>Other requirements</strong></h3>

<ol>
	<li>Every medical cabinet must be registered in the Registry of Medical Cabinets held by Public Health Departments.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Medical cabinets must prove the minimum equipment set by specific provisions and display the schedule of activities along with the specific services provided, in visible place.</li>
	<li>Depending on the chosen organization form, the medical cabinet is represented in legal and professional reports by:</li>
</ol>

<ul>
	<li>the medical practitioner who owns the medical cabinet;</li>
	<li aria-level="3">the group of associated medical practitioners;</li>
	<li aria-level="3">the medical practitioner delegated by the group of associated cabinets;</li>
	<li aria-level="3">legal representative of the unit in whose structure the medical practice is established;</li>
</ul>

<ol start="4">
	<li aria-level="1">Medical cabinets are required to periodically prepare reports containing statistical indicators and submit them to the Public Health Department;</li>
</ol>

<h3>Sanctions</h3>

<p>The founding document is the registration certificate in the Registry of Medical Cabinets and it is issued in two copies: one copy is kept by the issuing authority and one copy is handed over to the owner of the cabinet.</p>

<p>Operating a medical cabinet without this registration certificate is penalized by a fine ranging from 20.000 lei to 40.000 lei. It is observed a change in the amount previously set from 1000 lei to 2000 lei. This quantum applies starting from March 5, 2025.</p>

<h3>Conclusions&nbsp;</h3>

<p>Although this legislative change may seem worrying for the medical staff, we consider that Government Ordinance no. 9/2025 brings favorable and topical changes to Government Ordinance no. 124/1998, supports the transparency of the activities of medical offices by protecting patients, and last, but not least, ensures the consistency between the normative acts in the medical field.</p>

<p>VASILACHE Anaiss, Junior Attorney &amp; CIRSTEA – ION Andreea, Senior Attorney @ Andreea ION &amp; Roman HAMED Law Office. For additional information, you may contact us at <a href="mailto:office@legaltobusiness.com">office@legaltobusiness.com</a>.</p>

<p><em>*This is expert corner article provided by <a href="https://www.legaltobusiness.com/en/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Legal to Business</a>.</em></p>