Title VI: Therapeutic patient education

Therapeutic education is part of a patient’s care programme. Its aim is to make patients more independent by facilitating their compliance with prescribed treatments and improving their quality of life. It is not enforceable against the patient and cannot affect the rate of reimbursement for procedures and medicines relating to the patient’s illness. The skills required to provide therapeutic patient education are determined by decree. Within the framework of the…

Therapeutic patient education programmes comply with national specifications, the content of which is defined by order of the Minister for Health, based on the recommendations and guidelines drawn up by the French National Authority for Health. These programmes are implemented at local level after being declared to the regional health agencies. They are proposed to patients by a healthcare professional and lead to the development of a personalised programme.

Support activities are part of therapeutic education. Their purpose is to provide assistance and support to patients and their families in managing their disease. They comply with national specifications, the details of which and the content of which are defined by order of the Minister for Health.

The programmes or actions defined in articles L. 1161-2 and L. 1161-3 may not be developed or implemented by companies engaged in the exploitation of a medicinal product, persons responsible for marketing a medical device or its accessory or an in vitro diagnostic medical device or its accessory or companies offering health-related services. However, these companies and persons may take part in the actions or programmes mentioned in articles L….

The purpose of learning programmes is to enable patients to acquire the technical skills needed to use a medicinal product. They are implemented by healthcare professionals acting on behalf of an operator who may be financed by the company exploiting the medicinal product. There may be no direct contact between the company and the patient or, where applicable, the patient’s relatives, legal representatives in the case of a minor or…

Unless otherwise provided, the terms and conditions for the application of this chapter shall be defined by decree in the Conseil d’Etat.