Spa Stay - Rehabilitation Stay

Rehabilitation and spa stay

After a stay in hospital, a rehabilitation or spa stay may be necessary. An application to the responsible social insurance agency is required for this. In rehabilitation, the focus is on “repair”, whereas a cure is primarily about prevention. In the following you will find out how rehabilitation and treatment differ in detail.

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What is a rehab stay?

The term rehabilitation is derived from the Latin word "rehabilitatio", which means "restoration". Medical rehabilitation is about restoring skills that have been lost due to an accident or illness. The aim of medical rehabilitation is to support the patient in returning to work and everyday life. Rehabilitation measures are financed by the Ministry of Social Affairs Service, accident, pension and health insurance. Patients are entitled to rehabilitation stays in any case after an accident at work or in the event of complaints due to occupational diseases.

An inpatient rehabilitation stay is only possible with an application. The form required for this is available from doctors. To download the form: Request for a rehabilitation, spa or recreational stay. The fully completed application must be submitted to your health, pension or accident insurance provider ("Allsparenservice"). Your doctor can also submit the application. If necessary, the application will be forwarded to the responsible rehabilitation agency. If it is already clear in the hospital that the patient needs rehabilitation, the hospital can submit the rehabilitation application directly ("follow-up treatment", e.g. in the case of a stroke).

The application is checked by the medical services of the social insurance and then approved or rejected. The applicant will be informed of the result in writing. In addition to the approval, the employee of the medical service makes a suggestion about the duration, location and type of rehabilitation measures. If the application is rejected, the reasons are given. In principle, there is no legal entitlement to funding for a rehabilitation stay - except in the case of accidents at work and occupational diseases.

Rehabilitation takes place in special centers. You can find more information on rehabilitation at help.gv.at.

What is a spa stay?

At first glance, the so-called spa treatment is very similar to the rehabilitation stay, but they differ in one important point: Rehabilitation should restore the patient's health. The cure is intended to maintain the patient's health. So the cure is more about prevention than "repair".

For example, people with chronic back pain or circulatory problems take a cure. Several social security agencies also offer spa stays abroad. For example, people with psoriasis travel to the Dead Sea. The prerequisite for this is that health insurance or pension insurance approve the stay.

An application is required for this. The form required for this is available from doctors. The doctor fills out the application and sends it to the responsible social insurance agency (health insurance, pension or accident insurance). The providers are not obliged to finance the spa stay. To download the form: Request for a rehabilitation, spa or recreational stay.

If the social insurance company approves the stay at the spa, it also covers a large part of the costs. The patient pays a deductible depending on the income. A cure is approved a maximum of two times in five years.

Find rehabilitation centers online

On the service page Search for rehabilitation centers, you can find out about rehabilitation and spa centers in advance. The rehabilitation compass is a service provided by the umbrella organization of Austrian social insurance and Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG). It provides information on the organization, medical services and equipment of inpatient rehabilitation facilities in Austria.