Below are the frequently asked questions about our invoices for therapy in 2022 and beyond.

You can see an example of our invoices by clicking here. The invoice contains dummy data.

What do you charge clients for?
Every time a therapist has contact with the client or with relatives, family members, parents, partner or other relatives of the patient, in the context of diagnosis or treatment. The most common activities include:

  • Face-to-face contact, such as treatment sessions;
  • Phone calls;
  • Electronic contact via e-mail or internet (chat, Skype etc.).

Do you charge for e-mails and phone calls?
We do charge a fee for e-mails and phone calls between therapist and client, but only if they are about the contents of your therapy, such as diagnosis or treatment. A few examples include:

  • Evaluation e-mails about the progress of your therapy;
  • E-mails to establish if you are (still) motivated for therapy if we have not heard from you in a while;
  • A phone call if you require support between sessions.

Please be aware that these e-mails usually cost between €35 and €112 depending on the profession of the therapist and whether you are in the diagnostics or treatment phase. You can view all our rates here: https://www.empower-pt.nl/en/reimbursement/rates/. These rates are set by the The Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa).

We do not charge for purely administrative e-mails, such as e-mails from our support team, or an e-mail from your therapist to reschedule an appointment.

How expensive will my therapy be?
The cost of your therapy depends on several factors:

  • How many sessions you have;
  • The profession of your therapist(s);
  • How many therapists are involved in your therapy;
  • Which phase of the therapy you are in (the diagnostic phase is more expensive than the treatment phase);
  • If you also communicate with your therapist via e-mail or phone.

The costs can vary widely between clients. To give you a rough estimate of the costs of therapy, we can inform you that:

  • 40% of clients have a monthly invoice up to €500;
  • 45% of clients have a monthly invoice between €500 and €1000;
  • 10% of clients have a monthly invoice of between €1000 and €1800;
  • 5% of clients have invoices higher than €1800.

How are the rates calculated?
The Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) sets the rates for mental health care each year. Empower Psychotherapie charges these rates.

How often do I receive an invoice?
Note: currently (May 2022) we are in the process of switching to monthly invoicing. Clients receive e-mail updates about our invoicing where needed.

We invoice by calendar month, and usually send invoices around the 15th of the following month. So all therapies that were given in the month August, are sent around September 15th.

Do I need to take care of reimbursement myself?
This depends on which insurer you have. We are allowed to invoice some insurers directly. Other insurers do not allow direct invoicing. In that case, clients have to take care of reimbursement. You will receive all necessary information with your invoice. Clients that have a foreign EHIC card only receive an invoice on request, we take care of all reimbursements from their foreign insurer.

The information below is only for invoices for therapy until Dec 31st 2021

How expensive will my therapy be?
Our bills are usually +/- €2800 for a short therapy and can be up to +/- €8800 for long therapies. Short therapies are therapies in which our practitioners spend less than 30 hours directly + indirectly on a client within 1 year. Long therapies are those in which our practitioners spend 50 hours or more direct + indirect time on a client in 1 year. If your insurer does not reimburse the entire bill, you may be able to deduct the part that you have to pay yourself from your income tax, or your parents’ income tax, ask a tax adviser about this.

These rates are set by the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa).

What is direct time (Directe tijd)?
Direct patient-related time is the time during which a practitioner, has contact with the patient or with relatives, family members, parents, partner or other relatives of the patient, in the context of diagnosis or treatment. Activities include:

  • Face-to-face contact;
  • Phone calls;
  • Electronic contact via e-mail or internet (chat, Skype etc.).

What is indirect time (Indirecte tijd)?
Indirect time is the time that the practitioner spends on issues surrounding a contact moment (the patient-related time), but where the patient (or family, partner, etc.) is not present. Examples of this are:

  • preparing an activity (for example from a psychotherapy session);
  • reporting in the context of the activity (eg psychiatric research);
  • recovery time after an intensive treatment session.

What is total time (Totale tijd)?
This is the sum of the direct time and indirect time.

Do I receive an invoice per session?
No, Empower may only send an invoice if a treatment program is completed, if 365 days have passed since the start of the treatment program, or if you switch between Basic Mental Healthcare and Specialized Mental Healthcare

How is the invoice amount calculated?
The Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) sets prices for mental health care each year. Empower Psychotherapy charges these rates.

In the Specialized Mental Healthcare, the invoice amount is mainly determined by the amount of total time spent. The diagnosis plays a smaller role in establishing the invoice amount.

In the Basic Mental Healthcare, only the total time determines the amount of the amount. It does not matter which diagnosis is given.

On this page you will find all the rates that we charge.

Source (Dutch): https://dbcregels.nza.nl/ggz/registreren/diagnostiek-en-behandeling-registreren/diagnostiek-en-behandeling-registreren-wat/directe-tijd-indirecte-tijd-en-reistijd/.

How does group therapy work?
The direct and indirect time are divided up between all participating clients equally. Example: a group session of one hour with one therapist and four clients will lead to 15 minutes of direct time for each client.
Which information is listed on the invoice?

Click here to view an example invoice.

Explanation of terms on the example invoice

Top to bottom, left to right

Black square:  This contains the clients name, date of birth, Dutch BSN (if applicable), address and name of insurer

Factuurnummer: This is the invoice number

Factuurdatum: This is the invoice date

Afsluitreden: This is the reason that the invoice was issued. The most common ones are:

  1. Reden voor afsluiten bij patiënt / niet bij behandelaar: The cliënt decided to end the therapy
  2. Reden voor afsluiten bij behandelaar / om inhoudelijke redenen: The therapist decided to end the therapy.
  3. In onderling overleg beëindigd zorgtraject / patiënt uitbehandeld: The cliënt and therapist together decided to end the therapy, or the client has finished the therapy.
  4. Na alleen pre-intake / intake / diagnostiek / crisisopvang: The cliënt only received an intake session and/or diagnostics but no treatment sessions.
  5. Vanwege openen vervolg-dbc: The client has been in therapy for longer than 365 days so an intermediate invoice was issued. (The maximum period between invoices is 365 days).

Verwijzer type: What kind of professional issued the referral letter? The most common is 01: General Practitioner.

Verwijzer AGB: What is the personal healthcare code of the person issuing the referral letter?

Hoofd/regiebehandelaars: Which main practitioners at Empower were in charge of the intake and the actual therapy?

Begindatum: Start date of the therapy (when an intermediate invoice was issued before this one this is an artificial start date).

Einddatum: End date of the therapy (when an intermediate invoice is issued this is an artificial end date).

Prestatie: This is a code that tells the insurer:

  1. the type of healthcare that was provided
  2. the main group of the diagnose (for instance: “Depressive disorders, or “Personality disorders”). The exact diagnose is not listed on the invoice.
  3. A general indicator of the severity of the complaints
  4. Which healthcare “product” we’re invoicing.

Decl. code: Another code that indicates which healthcare “product” we’re invoicing.

Uitvoerder: Which healthcare provider performed the therapy (our healthcare provider code is 22220913)

Aantal: How many healthcare “product” we’re invoicing, this is usually just 1.

Bedrag: The payment amount in EUR.

Below that is a block that lists all the Empower therapists that were involved in a treatment. Please see above for an explanation of direct, indirect and total time.

At the bottom of the invoice we list the payment term (14 days standard) and our bank account number.