Türkiye has established the rules for obtaining informed consent for medical interventions electronically. The Regulation on Obtaining Informed Consent in Electronic Environment was published in the Official Gazette on 27 October 2026 and entered into force the same day. It applies to public and private healthcare facilities providing primary, secondary and tertiary care.
Consent may be recorded through e-Nabız or a facility system
Under the regulation, electronic informed consent can be obtained through the national e-Nabız personal health system or through an electronic communication tool operated by a healthcare facility that meets conditions set by the Ministry of Health. The process begins when a healthcare professional prepares the consent form electronically. The patient, or a legal representative where required, can review the form in e-Nabız or through a link sent to them.
The rules also preserve the substantive conditions of informed consent so that the process does not become a purely technical confirmation. Information about the medical intervention must be provided adequately, clearly and in a timely manner. The patient must have an opportunity to receive answers and make a decision freely. Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu had said on 17 October that a regulation was being prepared to enable informed consent to be obtained electronically and securely.
Identity and phone verification are required
Both the healthcare professional and the patient must be identified in the electronic process. The patient must have a verified mobile phone number. After reviewing the form, the patient receives a one-time code by SMS. When the transaction is carried out through e-Nabız, the patient enters the code directly. When a healthcare facility’s electronic tool is used, the patient may provide the code to the healthcare professional, who enters it into the system.
A mobile number verified by a healthcare facility remains valid for 12 months and must then be verified again. The regulation requires the electronic consent record to include information such as the date and time of the transaction, the verification code and the healthcare professional responsible for the process. Technical safeguards, including encryption and electronic time-stamping, are intended to preserve the integrity of the record. Completed records will be transferred to the central health data system and made accessible through the individual’s e-Nabız account.
Limits apply when a legal representative is required
For minors and people under legal restriction, consent must be provided by a legal representative when required by law. Electronic consent cannot be obtained if the representative is not present, cannot be reached or cannot be identified electronically. This condition makes clear that the digital method is not an automatic option for every case.
The regulation does not alter the duty to inform patients or their right to decide. Instead, it defines a standard method for recording consent electronically. It also does not state that paper forms are abolished in every circumstance. Healthcare providers will have to ensure that their systems meet the required technical and administrative conditions, including identity verification and secure recordkeeping.
What will the electronic record contain?
The process is designed to document not only whether consent was given but also how the transaction was completed. The date and time, the verification code, the healthcare professional involved and technical information protecting the integrity of the form will be retained. These details should make it possible to trace the consent process if it later needs to be reviewed. The patient’s ability to view the form and retrieve the completed record through e-Nabız also adds a direct access element to the new system.
For patients, the most visible change will be the ability to access completed consent records through e-Nabız. For healthcare providers, the process creates a traceable record of who completed the transaction, when it was completed and which verification step was used. The effectiveness of the system will therefore depend not only on the SMS confirmation but also on clear communication before consent and reliable handling of the resulting health data. The one-time code does not replace a clinician’s explanation or the patient’s free decision; it is one verification step in recording that decision electronically.
