Economic regulation

To this end, ERS is entrusted with:

1. Conducting studies and issuing recommendations on economic relations in the various segments of the health economy, including those concerning access to activity and relations between the National Health Service (SNS), or other public (or equivalent) health systems or subsystems, and healthcare providers, regardless of their nature, in order to promote transparency, efficiency and equity in the sector, while defending the public interest and the interests of users;
2. Pronouncing and issuing recommendations on agreements underlying the convention regime, as well as on concessions and management contracts, or any other contracts involving the design, construction, financing, maintenance or operation of public health establishments or services;
3. Conducting studies and issuing recommendations on the organisation and performance of SNS health services;
4. Pronouncing and issuing recommendations on health insurance requirements and rules, cooperating with the corresponding regulatory authority in its supervision;
5. Pronouncing on the amount of healthcare services fees and prices set administratively or established by agreement between the SNS and external entities and ensuring that they are complied with.

ERS is also responsible, in cooperation with the AdC, whenever applicable, for:

1. Identifying relevant markets with specific sectoral characteristics, namely defining geographical markets, following the principles of competition law, within the scope of its regulatory activity;
2. Ensuring compliance with competition rules in activities open to the markets subject to its regulation;
3. Identifying situations that may constitute unlawful competition and immediately reporting them to the AdC;
4. Collaborating in the enforcement of competition law.

In exercising its supervisory powers, ERS may also conduct market studies and surveys by area of activity that prove necessary for the pursuit of its mission, especially regarding:

1. Market supervising and monitoring;
2. Substantiation of circumstances that indicate distortions or restrictions on competition, access to healthcare, the legality of healthcare providers' operations, the transparency of their operations or their relationship with funding entities or healthcare users, or the rights of the latter.