§ 1 Scope and principles
(1) Unless expressly agreed otherwise, these general terms and contractual conditions (hereinafter referred to as “Terms and Conditions”) serve as the treatment- or service contract in accordance with Section 611 ff. of the German Civil Code (hereinafter referred to as “BGB”) for the commissioning of services between the patient and the Praxis für Burnout und Erschöpfung Partnerschaftsgesellschaft, represented by Prof. Dr. rer. pol. HP Thomas Kotulla and HP Sophia Kotulla, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners, Suarezstr. 27, 14057 Berlin, Germany (hereinafter referred to as “CAM practitioner”).
(2) According to the treatment- or service contract between the CAM practitioner and the patient, the CAM practitioner is obliged to provide the promised services with the aim of eliminating or alleviating the patient’s health problems by mutual agreement. The patient is obliged to pay a remuneration or a fee. According to Section 611 BGB, the amount of the remuneration or fee is left to the free agreement between the CAM practitioner and the patient. If a remuneration or fee was not discussed when the treatment- or service contract was concluded, it is deemed to have been agreed in accordance with Section 612 BGB. Details regarding remuneration and fees can be found in Section 5 of these Terms and Conditions.
(3) Statutory health insurance companies generally do not reimburse costs for treatment services in accordance with the CAM practitioner German fee schedule (hereinafter referred to as “GebüH”). If a patient is privately insured or has additional private insurance, treatment costs can in many cases be partially or fully reimbursed by insurance companies. The amount of reimbursement may vary depending on the insurance contract. Reimbursement of costs by insurance companies is independent of the treatment- or service contract between the CAM practitioner and the patient. Furthermore, unless otherwise agreed, the treatment costs are independent of the reimbursement amounts by the health insurance company.
(4) These Terms and Conditions were translated from German to English. In case of linguistic ambiguity, the original German version of the Terms and Conditions is always decisive.
§ 2 Conclusion of contract
(1) The treatment- or service contract between the CAM practitioner and the patient is concluded when the patient accepts the CAM practitioner’s general offer to practice medicine against anyone and turns to the CAM practitioner for the purpose of advice, diagnosis or therapy. Section 7 of these Terms and Conditions already comes into effect when an initial appointment is agreed.
(2) The CAM practitioner is entitled to reject a treatment- or service contract without giving reasons; especially if the necessary relationship of trust cannot be expected or if the patient has health problems that the CAM practitioner cannot or is not allowed to treat due to his specialization or for legal reasons or that could bring the CAM practitioner into conflicts of conscience. In this case, the CAM practitioner’s claim to remuneration or fees for the services and advice provided up to the point of rejection remains intact.
§ 3 Content and purpose of the treatment- or service contract
(1) The CAM practitioner provides his services to the patient in the form of applying his knowledge and skills in the practice of medicine to advise, diagnose and treat the patient’s health problems.
(2) The CAM practitioner informs the patient about the applicable diagnostic and therapeutic procedures as well as their advantages and disadvantages from a technical and economic perspective. The patient is then free to decide which of these procedures he would like to use. If the patient cannot or does not want to decide for him- or herself, the CAM practitioner is authorized to conscientiously select those procedures that come closest to the patient’s presumed wishes.
(3) As part of his diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, the CAM practitioner works closely with medical laboratories and designated pharmacies. Nevertheless, also complementary medical procedures are used that have not yet or not fully been recognized by conventional medicine. Above all, this means that the causal effectiveness of such procedures has not yet or not fully been explained or proven. The subjectively expected success of these procedures can therefore neither be promised nor guaranteed. Liability claims, including for possible consequences, cannot be derived from this. In addition, the complementary medical procedures used are to be understood as a supplement to conventional medical treatment and are not intended to replace it. Any therapies prescribed by conventional medicine should therefore continue to be carried out by the patient at their own discretion. If the patient rejects the use of complementary medical procedures and would like to be advised, diagnosed or treated exclusively according to scientifically recognized procedures of conventional medicine, he or she must declare this to the CAM practitioner in writing in a timely manner.
(4) The CAM practitioner may not issue sick notes or prescribe any prescription medication.
§ 4 Participation of the patient
(1) The patient is not obliged to actively participate. However, the CAM practitioner is entitled to terminate the treatment if the required relationship of trust no longer appears to exist, in particular if the patient negates the content of the consultation, provides the necessary information on the anamnesis or diagnosis incorrectly or incompletely, or thwarts therapeutic measures.
(2) In the case of laboratory tests, it is the patient’s responsibility to arrange and attend an appointment to discuss the laboratory results. In principle, laboratory results will not be made available without a prior discussion of the findings. The date for discussing the findings must not be later than three months after the date on which the laboratory tests were arranged. Otherwise, the laboratory results will be automatically deleted. In this case, restoring the results is only possible with additional effort, which will be charged to the patient at a flat rate of € 60. This does not affect the laboratory’s right to full payment for laboratory services by the patient.
§ 5 Remuneration of the CAM practitioner
(1) The CAM practitioner is entitled to a remuneration or fee for the services provided. The patient will be informed in advance about the amount of remuneration or fees. There is no obligation to apply third-party fee schedules or fee lists.
(2) Unless otherwise agreed, the remuneration or fee for each consultation or treatment day is to be paid to the CAM practitioner directly after the consultation or treatment by card payment; alternatively, the patient is given the opportunity to pay the remuneration or fee subsequently on account. Details on this can be found in Section 11 of these Terms and Conditions.
(3) If the CAM practitioner provides third-party services that he or she does not supervise (e.g., laboratory services analogous to M III-IV, N of the GOÄ), the CAM practitioner is entitled to use the amounts invoiced by the third party as his or her own remuneration- or fee components and bill the patient for the expected amount. These amounts must be shown separately on invoices. The CAM practitioner will not accept any reimbursements or other benefits from third parties. However, the CAM practitioner is entitled to claim his or her own remuneration or fees from third parties if a corresponding agreement has been reached for the provision of accompanying services to the patient. There is no reimbursement or granting of benefits if the CAM practitioner provides the services him- or herself or as a member of a laboratory group and if the costs do not exceed the GOÄ’s simple rate.
(4) If the CAM practitioner receives services from third parties that he or she monitors (e.g., laboratory services analogous to M I-II of the GOÄ), these services are part of the CAM practitioner’s remuneration or fees. Unless an inclusive agreement has been made here, these costs will be invoiced at the simple rate of GOÄ items 3500-3621.
(5) In the cases of paragraphs 3 and 4, the CAM practitioner is exempt from the restrictions of Section 181 BGB and may enter into legal transactions as the patient’s representative between the third party (e.g., laboratory) and him- or herself. This also applies if Section 181 BGB would also apply to the legal relationship between the CAM practitioner and third parties (e.g., in laboratory communities) – regardless of any exemption. The ban on granting benefits pursuant to paragraph 3 remains unaffected by this.
(6) Due to legal regulations (Section 43 German AMG as amended by the 8th amendment in 1998), CAM practitioners are not permitted to dispense medicines that are sold in pharmacies. Samples of pharmacy-only medicines are excluded from this. However, direct administration of medicines to patients by CAM practitioners is still permissible, as this does not constitute a distribution but a use, given that the respective medicine is used on more than one patient. It follows that the CAM practitioner’s remuneration or fee can in principle include the medicines used, and any kind of deduction or specification is not possible.
(7) In contrast, the dispensing of recommended or prescribed medicines to patients by pharmacies represents a direct transaction not covered by these Terms and Conditions, which has no influence on the CAM practitioner’s remuneration, fees or invoices. This also applies to over-the-counter medicines, dietary supplements and other aids that are recommended or prescribed by the CAM practitioner and purchased by the patient from relevant sales outlets. The patient has a free choice of pharmacy or point of sale.
§ 6 Reimbursement of fees by third parties
(1) If the patient is or believes to be entitled to full or partial reimbursement of the remuneration or fee by third parties, Section 5 is not affected by this. The CAM practitioner does not carry out direct billing and cannot defer the remuneration or fee or parts of it in view of a possible reimbursement.
(2) If the CAM practitioner provides the patient with information about the reimbursement practices of third parties as part of the economic advice in accordance with Section 3, Paragraph 2, this information is non-binding.
(3) There is no obligation to apply third-party fee schedules or fee lists. According to this, the usual reimbursement rates do not count as agreed remuneration or fee, and the remuneration or fee is not limited to reimbursable services.
(4) The CAM practitioner does not provide any direct information to third parties regarding reimbursement issues. Only the patient receives all information and necessary certificates. Such services are subject to a remuneration or fee.
§ 7 Bindingness of appointment agreements
Appointments that the patient cannot or does not want to attend must be canceled or postponed in advance by e-mail or via the online booking system. Unattended appointments that were canceled or rescheduled less than 48 hours in advance or not at all will be charged at the same full rate as they would have been charged if the appointment had been attended. If the reason for an appointment not being canceled/postponed in a timely manner is force majeure occurred at short notice (e.g., illness less than 48 hours before the appointment), the patient must provide written proof of this within one week (in the case of illness, in the form of a medical certificate).
§ 8 Appointment management
For optimal appointment management, the CAM practitioner uses the appointment management system Doctolib. In this context, the Doctolib GmbH (Mehringdamm 51, 10961 Berlin, Germany) acts as contract processor for the CAM practitioner.
The CAM practitioner uses the Doctolib calendar software for his or her patients to manage appointments uniformly. Doctolib processes all data in accordance with all applicable data protection regulations and applies the highest security standards. To make an appointment, the following data is entered into the Doctolib calendar: last name, first name, date of birth, address, telephone number, e-mail address, health insurance status, family doctor if applicable, referring doctor if applicable, reason for visit and appointment history if applicable.
The legal basis for the processing of patient data is Section 6 I b) EU DSGVO, Section 6 I a) EU DSGVO and Section 9 II h) EU DSGVO. The data is stored for a period of ten years in accordance with the professional retention obligations. The data will not be forwarded by the alternative practitioner or by Doctolib to commercial providers. Not only the alternative practitioner, but also Doctolib is bound to confidentiality. A release from the duty of confidentiality is not required for the use of Doctolib.
To reduce missed appointments, the patient is reminded of the agreed appointment via SMS and/or e-mail using the Doctolib calendar system. If the patient notifies the CAM practitioner in writing that he or she no longer wishes to receive appointment reminders, the CAM practitioner will deactivate the Doctolib reminder function for the patient.
A Doctolib user account is required for online appointment booking by the patient. The Doctolib data protection information applies to this. Doctolib GmbH (Mehringdamm 51, 10961 Berlin) is the contact and data controller for the creation of a Doctolib user account. The legal basis for this is Section 6, Paragraph 1 b) EU DSGVO and Section 9 II h) EU DSGVO.
§ 9 Confidentiality of treatment
(1) The CAM practitioner treats all patient data confidentially and only provides information to third parties regarding the diagnosis, advice and therapy as well as the accompanying circumstances and the patient’s personal circumstances with the patient’s express written consent. The written form can be waived if the information is in the patient’s interest and if it can be assumed that the patient would agree.
(2) Paragraph 1 does not apply if the CAM practitioner is obliged to pass on the data due to legal regulations – for example due to the obligation to report certain diagnoses – or if the CAM practitioner is obliged to provide information by official or court order. This also applies to information provided to legal guardians, but not to information provided to spouses, relatives or family members. Furthermore, paragraph 1 does not apply if personal attacks against the CAM practitioner or his or her professional practice take place in connection with the advice, diagnosis or therapy and if he or she can exonerate him- or herself by using accurate data or facts.
§ 10 Data protection and hand files
(1) The patient is aware and agrees that the necessary personal data will be stored on data carriers by the CAM practitioner as part of the treatment- or service contract.
(2) If the CAM practitioner commissions services from third parties (e.g., laboratory services), no personal data of the patient will be passed on unless this is necessary or the patient has expressly given his or her consent.
(3) The CAM practitioner keeps records of his or her services (manual file). The patient is not entitled to view this file; he or she cannot demand this manual file either. If the patient requests a treatment file, the CAM practitioner will create this from the manual file for a fee. If there are originals in the file, copies of these will be included in the treatment file. The copies receive a note stating that the originals are in the manual file.
(4) As part of the contact between the CAM practitioner and the patient, information or documents may be sent electronically, e.g. invoices or laboratory results via e-mail. If the patient wishes to have encryption used to send information or documents electronically, he or she must declare this to the CAM practitioner in writing.
(5) According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the CAM practitioner is obliged to inform the patient as follows about the purpose for which he collects, stores and, if necessary, forwards his or her personal data to third parties and what rights the patient is entitled to with regard to his or her data:
– The person responsible for processing patient data is the CAM practitioner named in Section 1, Paragraph 1 of these Terms and Conditions.
– There is no permanent representative and/or data protection officer in the CAM practitioner’s clinic.
– The patient’s personal data is collected for the purpose of medical care and for billing the services and is stored in the automated clinic management system and in the manual patient files. In addition to the patient’s contact details, the data includes health data such as anamnesis, medication, diagnoses, treatment recommendations, laboratory results, etc. Other CAM practitioners or doctors with whom the patient is or was receiving treatment can also provide the CAM practitioner with data for this purpose.
– The collection and processing of the patient’s personal data is a necessary prerequisite for adequate and careful treatment on the basis of the treatment contract between the CAM practitioner and the patient.
– The data will only be transmitted to third parties if this is legally permissible or if the patient has expressly consented to this. Third parties in this sense can be other service providers (CAM practitioners, doctors, physiotherapists, etc.), health insurance companies or a billing office.
– The patient’s personal data will be kept in the clinic for at least 10 years after the treatment has been completed (Sections 630-631 BGB). In certain circumstances, longer retention periods may arise under other legal provisions (e.g., records of X-ray treatments must be kept for at least 30 years after the treatment in accordance with Section 28, Paragraph 3 RöV).
– The legal basis for data processing is the treatment contract between the CAM practitioner and the patient, Section 6, Paragraph 1b EU DSGVO and Section 9, Paragraph 2f+h EU DSGVO in conjunction with Section 9, Paragraph 3 EU DSGVO, Section 22, Paragraph 1 No. 1b BDSG and the declarations of consent given by the patient in this context.
– The patient has various rights with regard to his or her data: He or she can request information about the data collected and the correction of incorrect data. Under certain conditions, the patient also has the right to have the stored data deleted. Provided the conditions are met, the patient is also entitled to restrict the processing/blocking of the data. Provided the conditions are met, the patient also has the right to data transferability (so-called right to data portability). The patient can revoke consent to data processing in writing at any time. Furthermore, the patient has the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority if he or she believes that the processing of the data collected by the CAM practitioner violates the GDPR.
(6) In addition, particularly for the use of the CAM practitioner’s website and for electronic data exchange, e.g. by e-mail, the CAM practitioner’s data protection declaration applies, which can be found here.
§ 11 Invoicing
(1) Regardless of the payment method (e.g., card payment, payment on account), the patient receives an invoice with the date of treatment and specification of the services provided as well as third-party and ancillary services. The invoice contains the name and address of the CAM practitioner as well as the name, address and date of birth of the patient. The applicable VAT rate must be shown for all types of services.
(2) If the invoice contains a diagnosis and/or therapy specification with diagnostic conclusions, the patient grants the CAM practitioner permission to transmit the data relevant for billing and patient administration to his or her partner company Simplimed GmbH (hereinafter referred to as “Simplimed”), taking into account the German Patient Rights Act (PatRG).
§ 12 Disagreements
Disagreements arising from the treatment- or service contract and the Terms and Conditions should be resolved amicably. To this end, it is advisable to submit differing expectations, opinions or complaints in writing to the other contracting party.
§ 13 Severability clause
Should single provisions of this treatment- or service contract or of the General Terms and Conditions be or become invalid or void, the effectiveness of the treatment- or service contract and of the General Terms and Conditions as a whole will not be affected. Rather, the invalid or void provision must be interpreted and replaced by a new provision that comes closest to the purpose of the contract and to the wishes of the contractual parties.
Berlin, last updated in March 2025