PATIENT GUIDE & FAQs

As an international health centre operated by professionals with international backgrounds, we not only speak your language, but also understand the unique experience of living abroad. We recognize that the Dutch healthcare system may differ significantly from what you are accustomed to, and we are committed to accommodating your needs wherever possible.

To enhance your experience, we provide a range of additional services, including a travel clinic, preventive health screenings, and more. We also cooperate with numerous international health insurance providers and, in many cases, are able to invoice them directly, minimizing administrative burdens for our patients.

All of our services are conveniently located under one roof, encompassing our General Practice (GP) Family Medicine, in-house pharmacy, Polyclinic with specialist care, and dental clinic.

In Case of Emergency

• For life-threatening emergencies, please call 112 immediately.

• For urgent medical care outside of regular hours — during weekends, nights, or national holidays — contact the GP out-of-hours service (Hadoks Zorg) at 070 346 96 69.

• For dental emergencies outside of regular hours, please call Dental 365 at 070 204 0010.

Our GP Family Practice holds contracts with all major Dutch health insurance providers. For patients covered by certain international insurance plans, direct payment may be required at the time of the appointment. In such cases, you can subsequently submit a claim to your insurer for reimbursement.

Our Polyclinic collaborates with a wide range of international insurance providers. For more detailed information, please [click here].

All GP and pharmaceutical services are covered by Dutch insurance, although coverage may not always be at 100%. Insurance companies may apply deductions based on your own risk (eigen risico). For other services, such as physiotherapy, coverage depends on your personal insurance policy. We recommend reviewing your individual insurance policy or consulting your employer about any collective insurance plans for more details.

For additional information regarding billing and insurance, please click on the following links:

• GP consultations
• Polyclinic Specialist care
• Dental Clinic
• IHCH Pharmacy

You may have received the invoice directly if you are insured with a company with which we do not have a direct billing contract, or if you have not provided us with your insurance information. We only can send invoices to certain foreign insurances and ONVZ Dutch insurance. Please click on the below links in order to find out which insurers we have direct billing contracts with.

• GP consultations
• Polyclinic Specialist care
• Dental Clinic
• IHCH Pharmacy

The Dutch regulatory system differs from that of many other countries. In the Dutch hospital sector, invoices are not generated immediately after a visit. Instead, they are issued at the end of a treatment period, which typically begins with the first treatment and lasts for up to three months. During this period, all relevant actions, including consultations, diagnostic tests, and procedures, are entered into a government-supervised system. This system then determines the price that can be charged to the patient. The final amount largely depends on the overall diagnosis, referred to as the DBC (Diagnosis Treatment Combination).

For more information about the DBC billing system, please click here. 

The date in the invoice reminder refers to when the invoice was generated and sent through the secure messaging portal, not the actual date of your appointment. For privacy reasons, we are unable to disclose the appointment date in the payment reminder.

Invoices are sent via secure email, in compliance with GDPR regulations. You will receive a notification email with a one time code informing you that our invoice has been sent. 

Please contact our finance department for further assistance. For GP invoices, please email admin@ihch.nl; for Polyclinic invoices, please email polybilling@ihch.nl.

The invoice was sent directly to your insurance provider, which partially covered the cost. If you would like to receive a copy of the invoice, please email us at polybilling@ihch.nl.

Unfortunately, we are unable to send a copy of the invoice automatically. Additionally, we do not issue separate invoices for patient co-payments; instead, a notification is sent via regular email.

In the Netherlands, the wages of General Practitioners (GPs) are partially covered by a subscription fee (inschrijftarief), which helps cover the fixed costs of the GP practice, such as building maintenance, medical assistants, and administrative expenses. These costs are ongoing, which is why the subscription fee is charged annually for patients with an international insurance policy — regardless of whether you have visited the GP during the year.

In addition to the subscription fee, a consultation fee is applied only when you have an appointment with the GP.

There is an exception for transient (passant) patients who require medical attention but are not residents of the Netherlands or live in another town. These patients are charged only the consultation fee, which is approximately three times the standard rate.

For more information about the inscrijftarief, click here.