Higher costs for physiotherapy practices

The cost of running a physiotherapy practice in the Netherlands rose by more than the income of such a practice in 2000. Total costs were seven percent higher than in 1999, at 317 million euro, while the revenues rose by 3.5 percent in the same period, to 710 million euro.

Costs for physiotherapy practices, 1999-2000

Staff costs more

A large part of the increase in costs for these practices can be attributed to the increase in staff-related costs. These costs, the largest cost component accounting for more than half of total costs, rose by ten percent in 2000, from nearly 146 million to nearly 161 million euro. The other costs rose by 4.5 percent to 156 million euro.

Income up slightly

Just over seventy percent of the total 710 million euro revenues in 2000 (nearly 498 million euro) was paid for by the national health insurance fund. Patients not insured under this scheme spent a total of more than 185 million euro on physiotherapy, 5 million euro less than in 1999.

Total income of physiotherapy practices by source, 2000

National health insurance fund pays for most physiotherapy

Some two-thirds of the population in the Netherlands are insured under the national health insurance scheme. This ratio is reflected in the source of physiotherapy practice income: the national health insurance fund pays for just over seventy percent of treatment by physiotherapists.

The most recent figures on the number of contacts with a physiotherapist reveal that 17 percent of people insured under the national scheme visit a physiotherapist at least once a year. This rate is about the same for people with private health insurance.
The average number of visits was slightly higher for national insurance patients than for privately insured patients: the former are treated 18 times on average, the latter 16 times on average.

Rob van Gastel