International patient rights in Georgia: consent, information, records and complaints

Does Georgian law apply to international patients?

Yes. Under Article 9 of the Law of Georgia on Patient Rights of 2000, foreign nationals and stateless persons in Georgia have a right to medical care guaranteed by Georgia's international treaties and, where no such treaty exists, by Georgian legislation. This means that in a clinic in Tbilisi, Batumi or any other city, the rules on information, consent, confidentiality and records are the same for you as for a local patient.

Article 6 of the same law prohibits discrimination, including on the grounds of language, national or ethnic origin, place of residence and illness. This does not mean the clinic undertakes to speak your language, but you should not receive less information, worse conditions or different rules because you are a foreigner.

What this right does not mean

The right to medical care does not mean free treatment. Article 5 of the Law of Georgia on Health Care links state healthcare programmes to citizens of Georgia and stateless persons with the relevant status, and universal healthcare, the basic medical cover funded by the state, does not include foreign visitors. The cost of treatment is covered by you, your insurer or another payer; the role of your policy is explained in the insurance guide.

Emergencies are governed by a separate rule. Under Articles 37 and 38 of the Law of Georgia on Health Care, a doctor must help you if your condition is life-threatening or if you need emergency care at their workplace. In Georgia, 112 is the single number for ambulance, police and fire services.

What information are you entitled to before you agree to treatment?

Article 18 promises the patient complete, timely and understandable information: what medical services are available and what they cost, what the tests showed, the diagnosis and prognosis, what alternatives exist and what risks a refusal of treatment carries. Under the same article, you may ask who is providing your care and what experience they have. Article 19 requires the provider to tailor explanations to the patient's ability to understand and to keep specialist terms to a minimum.

For an international patient, this right falls into two stages. Before you arrive, you receive information remotely, based on your records, so it is preliminary. After you arrive, once you have been examined in person and tests have been done on site, the doctor finalises the plan, and that is when you are entitled to the final explanation. It is useful to ask the same questions at both stages and compare the answers:

• Diagnosis and plan. What the diagnosis is, which procedure is planned and why the doctor chose this particular approach.
• Alternatives. What other options exist, including postponing treatment or continuing it in your own country.
• Risks. What complications are possible and what will happen if you refuse the procedure.
• Who performs it. Which doctor will carry out the procedure and how often they perform this specific one.
• Cost. What the service will cost and what may be added if the plan changes.
• Going home. How long you need to stay in the city; clearance to fly is a decision for your treating doctor, not for the date on your plane ticket.

Informed consent: when must it be in writing?

Article 22 makes medical care conditional on the patient's informed consent: first the explanation, then the decision. In some cases consent must be given in writing, including before surgery, dialysis, genetic testing, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and blood transfusion. Most patients who come for treatment fall within this list, so the signed form will be one of the key documents of your treatment.

Consent relates to a specific procedure, not to the clinic in general. If, after you arrive, the doctor proposes a different method or an additional procedure, you need a new explanation and a new decision. An adult patient who is able to make decisions gives consent themselves; a representative usually steps in when the patient is a minor or cannot express their wishes.

Under Article 23, a patient with legal capacity can refuse treatment at any stage, except in the cases set out by law. The doctor explains the medical consequences of refusal, while the financial consequences are determined by your contract with the clinic, so you should know the cancellation terms before you pay.

Do you have a right to an interpreter in a Georgian clinic?

No, Georgian law contains no such separate right. The Law of Georgia on Patient Rights mentions neither an interpreter nor receiving information in your native language. The closest provision is Article 19, under which explanations must match the patient's ability to understand, but it does not oblige the clinic to bring in an interpreter.

The consequence is practical: if the doctor's English or Russian is not enough for you, informed consent becomes a formality. That is why language is part of planning your treatment, just like the flight or the hotel. You can communicate with us in English, in Russian and, through an interpreter, in other languages too. Below are the moments when an accurate translation matters most:

We arrange interpreting on site or remotely through our medical interpreter service, and to check a single term the medical glossary will also help.

Who may the clinic share your diagnosis with?

Articles 27 and 28 oblige the clinic to protect information about the patient. It may be disclosed with your consent, to protect third parties or where the law expressly provides for it. Under the Law of Georgia on Personal Data Protection, health data are a special category, and strict rules govern their processing.

An international patient is often surrounded by many people: a companion, family at home, a doctor in your own country, an insurer, a coordinator. The clinic may not know who should be told what, and may say either too much or too little. So on admission, state in writing who may be given information and to what extent, for example: "the companion in full, the insurer only the bill and the discharge summary".

If the clinic itself sends your records abroad, for example to your doctor, this is an international transfer of data and needs a lawful basis; one such basis is your written consent, which you give after being informed of the risks. In Georgia, personal data protection is supervised by the State Audit Office, and complaints about breaches of confidentiality are sent there as well.

Can you get another doctor's opinion?

Under Article 7, a patient may freely turn to another doctor or another medical facility for a second opinion. The law sets no time limit on this right: you can use it before you arrive, when all you have is a remote quote, and after you arrive, if the plan has changed significantly on site.

In practical terms, a second opinion is easiest before you travel, before your flight, hotel and advance payment are fixed. If you decide on site to see another doctor, ask the first clinic for copies of all the tests done there, so that the second specialist does not have to repeat them. Bear in mind that a second opinion is a separate visit and a separate cost. We arrange an independent assessment, in writing or by video call, through our second opinion service.

How do you get copies of your medical records before you leave?

Article 17 gives patients the right to see their own medical records and to request a copy of any part of them; the request is sent to the medical facility in writing. Article 14 of the Law of Georgia on Personal Data Protection sets the time limit: the copy must be issued within 10 working days of the request, and in exceptional cases the period may be extended by no more than another 10 working days, of which you must be informed immediately. The copy is generally free of charge; a reasonable fee is allowed only when it is set by law or when fulfilling the request requires substantial resources.

For a foreigner, the main risk is time: the 10 working days often run out after you have already left. So submit your request as early as possible, while you are still in hospital.

1. List the documents you need

   The discharge summary, the operation report, laboratory and histology results, imaging reports and the images themselves in digital form, the discharge instructions and, if you received an implant, the implant details.

2. Submit the request in writing

   Give your full name as in your passport, the dates of treatment and how you want to receive the copies: on paper with a stamp, by email or both. Keep a copy of the request or its registration number.

3. Check them before you leave

   Make sure your name, date of birth and diagnosis are correct in every document; correcting a mistake from home takes much longer.

4. Prepare them for your doctor

   A document drawn up in Georgian will need a translation for your doctor at home, and for official use sometimes an apostille as well.

Documents issued by a medical facility are apostilled by the Public Service Development Agency, an agency of the Ministry of Justice, without any notary step. The sequence of translation, apostille and dispatch is organised by our documents for home service.

Where can you complain if your rights are breached?

Most problems, such as a late copy or an unclear bill, are resolved by writing to the clinic's management. If that does not work, the law provides several routes, and each leads to a different outcome:

Check with a lawyer before you file the exact procedure and address for complaints to the Council, and whether the Regulation Agency for Medical and Pharmaceutical Activities accepts complaints directly. Whichever route you take, the same material will help: copies of your records, the signed consent form, the quote and the bill, your correspondence and a dated account of what happened.

When is it worth involving a lawyer?

Not every disagreement needs a lawyer, but there are situations where a legal assessment saves time and money, especially when your departure date is approaching:

• The terms of cancellation, refunds or dispute resolution in the quote or contract are unclear, and you have already been asked to pay.
• The final bill is significantly higher than agreed in advance, and the clinic does not explain the difference in writing.
• You have not received copies of your records within the time limit set by law.
• A complication has arisen and it is unclear who pays for the additional treatment.
• You feel pressured to sign the consent form, or the form contains conditions that nobody has explained to you.
• You are already home and need a representative in Georgia.

We coordinate legal matters for international patients through our legal help service: legal assessment, letters and representation are handled by lawyers of our partner law firm, Advocat.Ge, while we handle the case in your language and translate the documents. The lawyer's fee and our fee are agreed in writing before work begins. If you live in Georgia, the everyday side of the same rights is described on the page for local patients. What to check while you are still choosing a clinic is explained in the guide to choosing a clinic.

Frequently asked questions about international patient rights