Key points
- Of the 5,959 doctors' practices in Vienna at the end of 2024, 4,153 were Wahlarzt practices with no statutory insurance contract.3
- Since 1 January 2026, doctors in private practice must use the e-card system, ELGA and the eImpfpass, as far as the technical effort is proportionate.5
- Section 51 of the Ärztegesetz requires records on every patient, kept for at least ten years, with the first copy given to the patient without a fee.4
- 46.3% of Vienna's 2,028,289 residents had a foreign origin at the start of 2025, from 181 nations.12
- wai is built to connect to ELGA. We set up your clinic's connection with you.
Summary
A Vienna practice can use AI for notes and patient messages in 2026 when the patient agrees to recording, the doctor checks every draft before it enters the record and records are kept for at least ten years. Since 1 January 2026 private practices, Wahlärzte included, must also use ELGA and the e-card system where the effort is proportionate.
Vienna practices now reply to every patient on the day they write, and the doctor's findings reach ELGA without an extra evening at the desk. Most practices in the city are Wahlarzt practices, and from January 2026 they carry the same digital duties as practices with insurance contracts. What follows sets out those duties and how a Vienna practice meets them.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoSee a Sunday evening message to a Vienna Wahlarzt practice become an approved reply, a booking with a deposit in euros and a signed note, in fifteen minutes with a clinician who uses wai daily.
| Body or law | Rule | What to ask | How wai meets it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ärztegesetz, section 51 | Records on every patient, kept at least ten years, first copy without a fee | How retention and export work at exit | Every message, draft and signature logged and exportable |
| Ärztegesetz, section 49(7) | e-card, ELGA and eImpfpass used by private practices from 1 January 2026 | How signed findings reach ELGA | wai is built to connect to ELGA, set up with the practice |
| Strafgesetzbuch, section 120 | No recording of non-public words without authority | How the patient agrees before the scribe starts | The practice asks first, and the doctor signs every note |
| Datenschutzbehörde, GDPR Article 9 | Health data processed only on an Article 9(2) exception, and outputs checked for accuracy | Where data is hosted and whether it trains any model | Records hosted in the clinic's own country, and patient data never used to train models |
| Ärztekammer für Wien | Professional body for every doctor in Vienna | Who approves each patient reply | A person at the practice approves every draft before it is sent |
The private care market in Vienna
At the end of 2024, 6,824 doctors in Vienna ran a practice or worked as Wohnsitzärzte, according to the Ärztekammer für Wien.3 Of the 5,959 first or sole practices they ran, 1,468 were general practices and 4,491 specialist practices, and 4,153 were Wahlarzt practices without a contract with the statutory insurers.3
The patients are a growing, international city. Vienna had 2,028,289 residents on 1 January 2025, and 36.4% of them held a foreign citizenship.1
The rules a Vienna practice works under
Section 51 of the Ärztegesetz requires a doctor to keep records on every patient, covering the presenting condition, history, diagnosis, course of illness and treatment. The records are kept for at least ten years, and the patient may inspect them and receive a first copy without a fee.4
Section 49(7) of the Ärztegesetz requires doctors in private practice, and the people they employ, to use the e-card and its infrastructure, ELGA and the eImpfpass by 1 January 2026 at the latest, under technical conditions involving proportionate effort.5 For Wahlärzte the Ärztekammer für Wien lists reading eBefund, reading and entering eMedikation, the eImpfpass and diagnosis coding through eDiagnose.6 wai is built to connect to ELGA. We set up your clinic's connection with you.
Section 120 of the Strafgesetzbuch makes it an offence to use a recording device to capture another person's non-public words without authority, with up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 720 daily rates.7 The patient's agreement comes before the scribe starts, and the consent form template is a place to begin.
The Datenschutzbehörde supervises data protection in Austria. Its guidance on AI notes that health data needs a GDPR Article 9(2) exception, and that text-generating systems produce the statistically most likely output, which is not necessarily correct.8 wai drafts and the doctor reads, corrects and signs before anything enters the record.
wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic. wai is compliant with these rules and built for clinics in Vienna.
The languages Vienna patients write in
At the start of 2025, 939,732 Viennese had a foreign origin, born abroad or holding a foreign citizenship, and people from 181 nations lived in the city.12 The largest countries of origin were Serbia (98,940), Turkey (77,270), Germany (74,185), Syria (65,510) and Poland (54,664), followed by Romania, Ukraine, Bosnia, Hungary and Croatia.2
wai works in any language, and every draft waits for a person at the practice to approve it.9
What a demo shows in Vienna
The demo opens on a WhatsApp message sent at 20.30 on a Sunday by a woman in the 7th district asking whether the dermatologist can see a changing mole this week, since her contract doctor has no slot before December. wai reads the dermatologist's busy times from Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar and drafts a reply in her language with a Tuesday and a Wednesday option. The practice assistant approves it on Monday at 8.00.
Her booking link takes a deposit in euros through the practice's own Stripe account, and she receives a receipt and an intake questionnaire. After the consultation the dermatologist corrects and signs the drafted note and the letter to her own doctor, and the findings are ready for ELGA. Bring a real weekend message and watch it run.
For hospital groups, insurers and public bodies in Vienna
Hospital operators and private insurers in Vienna can have a system of their own built on wai, under their own brand, with data rights and exit terms agreed in the contract. The work starts on one defined pathway, with the measures agreed before launch. See the organisations page for how a build runs.
Where to start
First, confirm the practice's ELGA and e-card set-up against section 49(7), and list which findings the practice reads and enters.56 Second, add recording consent to intake and to the consultation script.7
Third, put a ten-year minimum retention and full export into the vendor contract.4 Fourth, ask the vendor where the data is hosted and how each output is checked for accuracy before it enters the record.8 Fifth, count last week's messages by language and hour so the demo runs on the practice's real week. The guide to data residency goes deeper.
Bring a week of patient messages and your ELGA routine, and we show the week running on wai.
Frequently asked questions
Do Wahlärzte in Vienna have to use ELGA?
Since 1 January 2026, section 49(7) of the Ärztegesetz requires doctors in private practice to use ELGA, the e-card system and the eImpfpass where the technical effort is proportionate.5 wai is built to connect to ELGA. We set up your clinic's connection with you.
How long must a Vienna practice keep patient records?
At least ten years under section 51 of the Ärztegesetz, and the patient is entitled to a first copy without a fee.4
Can a practice record a consultation for an AI scribe?
With the patient's agreement. Section 120 of the Strafgesetzbuch makes recording another person's non-public words without authority an offence.7
What does the Datenschutzbehörde say about AI?
Health data needs an Article 9(2) exception, and text-generating systems give the most likely output, which is not always correct, so outputs need checking.8
Where are the practice's records hosted?
wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic.
Can patients write in their own language?
Yes. wai works in any language, and the assistant approves each draft before it reaches the patient.9
Sources
- 1Stadt Wien, Integration und Diversität, 2025Gesamtbevölkerung Wiens 2025Read 15 October 2026Read source
- 2Stadt Wien, Integration und Diversität, 2025Herkunft und StaatsangehörigkeitenRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 3Ärztekammer für Wien, 2025Wahrnehmungsbericht 2024, Facts and FiguresRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 4Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS)Ärztegesetz 1998, section 51, Dokumentationspflicht und AuskunftserteilungRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 5Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS)Ärztegesetz 1998, section 49Read 15 October 2026Read source
- 6Ärztekammer für Wien, 2025e-Card-System, ELGA-Funktionalitäten und eDiagnose ab 1. Jänner 2026, Statusinformation für Wahlärzt*innenRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 7Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS)Strafgesetzbuch, section 120, Missbrauch von Tonaufnahme- oder AbhörgerätenRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 8Österreichische Datenschutzbehörde, 2026Künstliche Intelligenz und DatenschutzRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 9wai, 2026wai changelog, intake answered by voice in any languageRead 15 October 2026Read source
Every Vienna patient answered the day they write.
Fifteen minutes with a clinician who uses wai daily, on your own messages, calendar and ELGA routine. We reply within one working day.
Partner with us
See it on your own patients, then build it with us
Thirty minutes on your own patients, doctors and rules, in your market. We reply within one working day, and the clinics that partner with us early shape what we build next.
See what wai does between the visits