Glossary and difficult terms

Below is a list of several difficult terms you may encounter on an invoice or referred to when talking about hospital expenses.

In a single room, the attending physician may charge an additional fee of up to 150% of the legally established rate. Treating physicians include the doctor for whom you are admitted, as well as the anesthesiologist and those who perform certain additional examinations and services on behalf of you. This supplement does not go entirely to the doctor himself, but is used to invest in quality and care innovation.

This is the physician's fee, also known as a fee supplement. These fees are set by law.

Room supplements are costs the hospital may charge for treatment or stay in a single room. You can find the exact amount in the admission statement. Both fees and room supplements are payable by you, unless you have additional hospitalization insurance that covers these costs. When in doubt, check with your insurance company.

You as a patient can choose between a single room or a double room. You make this choice based on the admission statement and this has a significant impact on the final price of your hospital stay.

These are costs that the hospital may bill for each admission, even if you do not use the services charged. These are costs related to clinical biology, medical imaging, medical on-call service and technical services and medicines.

This includes costs for meals, taxes, etc., which have nothing to do with medical care and for which no intervention is provided. A list of chargeable products is available at the reception and can be consulted below. Regardless of the room type, these costs are entirely yours.

A hospitalization insurance is an extra insurance that protects you and your family against the costs of an (unexpected) hospitalization due to illness, accident or childbirth.

You are obliged in Belgium to join a health insurance fund for your health insurance, but this does not cover all of  your medical costs. In case of hospitalization, these costs can quickly add up. That is why it is best to take an additional hospitalization insurance.

You can take out hospitalization insurance with a health insurance fund or a private insurer. You should do this as soon as possible.

Please note that not every hospitalization insurance offers the same level of protection. For example, there are differences in the intervention for fee supplements for a single room or for pre- or post-hospitalization care.

The maximum invoice is a financial protection measure that limits annual medical expenses for families to a ceiling amount. Once medical care expenses reach that ceiling amount during the calendar year, a family receives a full refund of the copayment for subsequent benefits. 

Copayment or personal share is the amount you pay yourself for your admission or doctor's visit. This means the health insurance fund does not reimburse this piece. 

Every patient has to pay a share of the nursing price for each day of stay in the hospital. This share is set by law, is the same in all general hospitals and is not dependent on room choice.

In order to avoid excessive health care costs, health insurance companies, the government and health care providers make biennial agreements on the fees that doctors may charge. However, doctors and other health care providers are free to sign that convention in full, in part or not at all. If they sign that convention, then their convention status is '(fully) conventioned'. Physicians can also be partially conventioned, meaning that they work at certain locations and/or certain hours according to the conventioned rates and therefore not at other locations and/or hours. Their convention status is therefore 'partially conventioned'. It is best to ask these physicians beforehand where  and when they work according to the convention.

Also, physicians may choose not to charge their rates according to the convention at all, in which case their convention status is 'unconventional'.

On every physician's page on this website you can find out whether or not that physician is conventioned. You can also always ask the doctor himself or the secretary where you book your appointment.

Download the list of our physicians' convention status here.

The paramedical professions are recognized health professions in Belgium. This means that they may perform actions related to the diagnosis or treatment of a patient, but they do not make a medical diagnosis themselves. They often work under the prescription and/or supervision of a doctor, pharmacist or dentist. 

Examples of paramedical functions: physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, ...

This means that the health care provider will fully inform you or your representative about the proposed procedures, treatments, tests and the financial implications of that choice. After you receive this information, you will be asked to give your consent to start it. Sometimes you give that consent in writing; sometimes this is done verbally. Giving your consent means that you have received all the information before making your decision.

If you are entitled to an increased allowance, you yourself pay less for consultations, medicines, hospitalization, etc. The price for the care provided remains the same, but the health insurance provides a higher intervention in that case. Thus, the personal share for the patient with an increased allowance is lower.

In some cases, you are automatically entitled to an increased allowance. In other cases, you have to apply for it with your health insurance company. You can easily check whether you are entitled to an increased allowance. On the sticky note from your health insurance, there is a six-digit code. If the third digit is a 1, you are entitled to an increased allowance.

A health care provider who is not accredited may charge a supplement. If you are entitled to the increased allowance, you still have to pay that charged supplement. The only way to avoid having to pay supplements is to switch to a conventional health care provider. (List of convention statuses at St. Trudo Hospital)

More information on the conditions of increased reimbursement can be found on the NIHDI website. 

Would you like more information about this?

Thanks to the third-party payment system, you only pay your share of the costs to the healthcare provider (doctor, dentist, physiotherapist, pharmacist, etc.). In that case, your health insurance pays the allowance provided by them directly to the hospital. This way you don't have to pay the hospital and don't have to forward any certificates for the assistance provided to your health insurance.