Procedure for licensing medical activities at the present stage: problems and ways to overcome them

BACKGROUND: One of the tools for ensuring the quality of medical care and medical services is licensing procedures for admission to medical activities, which include licensing. Licensing is indicated as a mandatory condition for carrying out medical activities in the list of types of activities for which licenses are required (clause 46 of Article 12 of the Federal Law “On Licensing of Certain Types of Activities”). Since life and health are the most important universal human values and are legally enshrined at the level of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the study of the healthcare sector, including from the point of view of legal support for procedures for admitting individuals and legal entities to medical activities, is of exceptional scientific and practical interest. It should be noted that the institution of licensing of medical activities is one of the legal institutions that is constantly undergoing legislative changes, which allows us to speak about the relevance and relevance of this issue. Issues of licensing medical activities quite often come to the attention of researchers, however, due to the dynamic changes in the current legislation on the issue under study and the presence of quite extensive judicial practice, they require additional research in order to resolve problematic issues that arise in practice. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: based on an analysis of the regulatory framework for licensing medical activities, to identify problematic procedural issues and determine ways to improve the current legislation regulating the provision of medical care and medical services. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the method of expert assessments, an analysis was carried out of the regulatory framework of the Russian Federation regulating legal relations during the procedure for licensing medical activities by organizations of the public and private healthcare system. RESULTS: Licensing as an institution of law is complex in terms of the legal relations it generates, combining at its core the legal norms of two broad branches of law — administrative and civil. At the same time, licensing is a mandatory criterion for the functioning of a medical organization and includes a number of requirements for such organizations. Despite the extensive regulatory framework on the issue under study, licensing requirements contain a number of problematic aspects that create obstacles for licensees and license applicants and require legislative approval. In this regard, the authors have proposed ways to resolve existing contradictions by making specific proposals to change the current legislation. The proposed optimization of the licensing procedure for all participants in this process, as well as minimizing the risks arising from these legal relations, according to the authors, fully meets the objectives of ensuring the rights of citizens to high-quality and safe medical care.