The Patient and User Rights Act
Last peer-reviewed July 16, 2026
Brief overview
The Patients' and Users' Rights Act regulates, among other things, the right of patients and users to participation and information. While Section 3-2 describes what information the patient or user is to receive, Section 3-5 sets requirements for how the information is to be provided.
The information shall be adapted to the recipient's individual prerequisites, including age, maturity, experience, and cultural and linguistic background. It shall be provided in a considerate manner. The personnel shall, as far as possible, ensure that the recipient has understood the content and significance of the information. Information regarding the provided information shall be documented in the patient's or user's medical record.
Adaptation involves more than translating the words. The service must consider whether language, health literacy, cognitive prerequisites, disabilities, or the severity of the situation makes it difficult to understand the information. Understanding can be checked, for example, through open-ended check questions or by asking the recipient to reproduce the main message in their own words.
The need for an interpreter must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Section 3-5 does not establish an unconditional duty to use an interpreter in every situation where the recipient has a first language other than Norwegian. If communication cannot be carried out properly without an interpreter, the requirements for tailored information, patient safety, and proper services may imply that an interpreter must be used. For public bodies and private enterprises that provide services on behalf of a public body, the rules are supplemented by the Public Administration Interpreting Act.
The law does not specifically regulate the use of artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, it has practical significance when AI is used to translate, simplify, summarize, or draft patient information. An AI-generated draft is not in itself documentation that the information is correct, tailored, or understood. The health and care services retain responsibility for professional and linguistic quality assurance, assessment of interpreter needs, and verification of understanding.
What regulates this
The act establishes the rights of patients and users vis-à-vis the health and care services, including the right to participation, information, consent, and access to medical records.
According to Section 3-5, information provided under the law's provision on information must be adapted to the recipient's individual prerequisites. Cultural and linguistic background is expressly mentioned along with age, maturity, and experience.
The personnel shall, as far as possible, ensure that the recipient has understood the content and significance of the information. It must also be documented in the medical record what information has been provided and its main content.
Who is affected
Public sector
Private sector
Why it has practical significance
Understandable information is a prerequisite for genuine participation, informed choices, and valid consent. Errors or misunderstandings can have serious consequences regarding information on diagnosis, treatment, medication, risk, follow-up, or discharge.
The business must therefore assess the recipient's actual prerequisites in the specific situation. It is not always sufficient to translate a document or register that information has been sent.
When AI or machine translation is used, the result must be quality-assured in light of the medical context, the recipient's needs, and the risk of error. Such tools do not replace necessary dialogue, verification of understanding, or a specific assessment of whether an interpreter must be used.
Key Requirements and Obligations
- Adapt the information to the recipient's age, maturity, experience, and cultural and linguistic background.
- Provide the information in a considerate manner
- Ensure as far as possible that the recipient has understood the content and meaning of the information
- Document in the medical record what information was provided and its main content
- Assess the need for an interpreter based on the specific conversation, the recipient's prerequisites, and the consequences of miscommunication.
- Follow the separate requirements of the Interpretation Act when the business is covered by the act and the use of an interpreter is necessary
- Treat AI-generated translations, summaries, and drafts as aids that require professional and linguistic quality assurance
What the business may consider documenting
- Map which patient pathways and document types contain information with a particularly high risk of misunderstandings
- Establish routines for recording and reassessing language needs and the need for an interpreter throughout the patient pathway
- Use open-ended control questions or ask the recipient to restate the main message in their own words
- Define when written translation is sufficient and when the conversation requires a qualified interpreter
- Determine which AI and translation tools can be used, for what purposes, and with what level of professional control
- Requires separate quality assurance of information regarding consent, diagnosis, treatment, medications, risks, and discharge
- Document relevant information, assessments of interpreter needs, and completed interpretation in the medical record
- Coordinate the routines with the company's guidelines pursuant to the Interpretation Act
Sources and Further Reading
- Primary official source
- Norwegian Directorate of Health: Section 3-5 Form of the information
- Norwegian Directorate of Health: Section 3-2 The patient's and user's right to information
- Norwegian Directorate of Health: National guideline on interpreting services in the health and care services
- Section 6 of the Interpreter Act on the responsibility to use an interpreter
- Norwegian Directorate of Health: Report on large language models in the health and care services
The links point to external sources. Check the current text and status before using them in your own work.
