Legal Requirements

This is where you find all the neccessary information relating to legal requirements in laser medicine.

 All documents are only available in German, French or Italian!

Fact sheet V-NISSG: Use of products for cosmetic purposes

The Federal Office of Public Health (Bundesamt für Gesundheit, BAG) has compiled the information on the new federal law NISSG into a single leaflet.

Maintenance

For the maintenance of equipment, the Medical Device Ordinance provides more detailed information on service intervals for devices. Art. 20 para. 2 MepV shows that the distributor decides when and how often the maintenance is to be carried out. Publications

Data collection on laser applications by non-physicians

The SGML would like to support the work of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) with a data collection on the topic of “laser applications by non-physicians”. For this reason, we would like to ask for your help: report cases of laser applications by laymen by filling in the form below. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Legal Requirements in Laser Medicine

Excerpt from the lecture by Nora Lipp at the National Laser Congress 2014. Published in the “Swiss Journal of Dermatology and Aesthetic Medicine” (SZD)

Expert Opinion on insurance-covered treatments Dr. Peter H. Bloch MD

The latest refusal by health insurances to pay for CO2 laser wart removal according to TarMed  is a tariff problem that affects all doctors in Switzerland who use CO2 lasers for medical purposes. The SGDV (with a simultaneous mandate from the SGML and the SALC) has already exhausted all its legal possibilities during the last revision of the laser chapter of the TarMed. We absolutely wanted to keep the list of indications below, but were unsuccessful and provided with the following information:

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“The Federal Supreme Court ruled in 2003 (BGE 129 V 167) regarding the “Krankenpflege-Leistungsverordnung (KLV, Ordinance on treatments covered by health insurance)” is neither a positive nor a negative list. Appendix 1 of the KLV contains only those types of treatments that have been reviewed by the Commission that are covered by health insurance, not covered by insurance or only covered in certain cases. In the case of treatments that have not been the subject to a review, the presumption that the medical treatment must comply with the principles of scientifically proven efficacy, efficiency and suitability, and thus must be covered by the compulsory health insurance, is valid.
In Appendix 1 KLV, four indications of dermatological laser therapy are listed, two are covered by insurance (nevus teleangiectaticus, condylomata acuminata) and two are not covered by insurance (acne scars, keloid). On April 20, 2012, the FOPH confirmed that the Commission had never dealt with the other indications (such as CO2 laser treatment of actinic precancerous lesions), thus assuming that the WZW criteria are met. It is understood, of course, that the cases must be a medical treatment, and not a treatment with a cosmetic objective.
Accordingly, all dermatological laser therapies not explicitly mentioned in the CLV – such as e.g. Hemangioma, primary (also spider veins) and secondary telangiectasias, venous lake, angiofibroma / angiokeratoms, pyogenic granuloma, Osler’s disease, Ota’s disease, dirt tattoos, tattoo radiotherapy, erythroplasia Queyrat / Bowen, actinic cheilitis, precancerous lesions, skin adnexal tumors: syringomas, adenoma sebaceum, Therapy-resistant warts, condylomata acuminata, nail matrix excision / nail matrix destruction – are to be reimbursed by the cost carrier. “

Health Insurance Letter Templates

Die SGML hat  für Sie einige Dokumente bzgl. Kostengutsprache, Vorlagen einer Verfügung sowie Einsprache  erstellt:

Für weitere Informationen lesen Sie den Artikel “Wann zahlt die Krankenkasse?”.

For Doctors

For Patients

SUVA

SUVA information leaflet on laser safety – The publication of the Swiss Accident Insurance helps you to quickly familiarize yourself with the complex matter of laser safety.

Federal Office of Public Health (BAG)

Position Papers

Position paper of the SGDV on IPL Application in medicine and cosmetics – In this position paper, the Swiss Society of Dermatology and Venereology (SGDV) warns against the improper use of IPL technology.

This post is also available in: German