Tarmed in Switzerland: What is it?
Tarmed is a tariff system for doctors in Switzerland. But how does it work? And who can use it for what? Comparis explains.
03.11.2025
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1. What is Tarmed?
Tarmed is a Switzerland-wide tariff system for billing outpatient medical services. It applies to services in medical practices as well as in hospitals. In some cases, the list of Tarmed services also includes inpatient services.
Good to know: Tarmed also applies to telemedicine services.
What does Tarmed stand for?
Tarmed is an abbreviation of the French term «tarif médical».
What does Tardoc mean?
From 2026, the two tariff structures «Tardoc» and «outpatient flat rates» replace Tarmed. Tardoc regulates the tariffs for individual services. It regulates which services tax points are worth
What are individual services?
Individual services are the services that a doctor performs. These include, for example:
Consultations: Discussions with the doctor, including examinations and treatments that are not a separate Tarmed service.
Writing documentation and reports
Treatments: For example, the straightening of joints and the care of injuries
You can find all individual services in the Tarmed browser of the Association of Swiss Doctors or Mitosch GmbH.
There are different ratings of the tariff points for medical services as well as infrastructure and personnel services. Infrastructure and personnel services are composed of:
Cost of premises
Equipment costs
Personnel costs for non-medical staff
The outpatient flat rates set a flat-rate number of tax points for all services within the scope of a treatment. Initially, hospitals will mainly bill for outpatient flat rates.
In the Tardoc tariff system, billing for service providers simpler. In addition,
Services have been restructured
new billing options have been introduced
billing has been changed to a 1-minute cycle – with exceptions for basic medical services, general practitioner services and complementary medicine.
This makes billing more appropriate and transparent.
A more detailed list of all changes can be found, for example, at the FMH Professional Association.
2. Tarmed tariff: How does it work?
In Tarmed, medical services are assigned a certain number of tax points. There is a distinction between medical and technical services. The number of tax points per service is determined by the following factors:
the time required
the difficulty
the infrastructure required
Tax points are uniformly throughout Switzerland.
The tax point values indicate the price per tax point. They are regulated at the cantonal level. In some cases, there may also be different tax point values within a canton. The cost of treatment is then calculated by multiplying the tax points by the tax point values.
Good to know: When Tardoc comes into force in 2026, costs will be calculated in the same way as under Tarmed.
How billing works with Tarmed and Tardoc
Tax points × tax point value = cost of treatment
Example: The first five minutes of a consultation have 10.42 tax points for the medical service and 8.19 tax points for the technical service. The tax point value is 90 cents. The first five minutes of the consultation cost 16.75 francs.
Invoice: (10.42 + 8.19) × 0.9 = 16.75
3. Who may invoice under Tarmed?
Doctors may bill under Tarmed. However, this only applies to treatments in medical practices and in the outpatient hospital sector.
However, not every doctor may bill for every treatment. Depending on their qualifications, the treating specialists may bill for different tariff positions.
How to read a Tarmed invoice
A doctor’s invoice is complicated at first glance. That is why various websites offer a reading aid for Tarmed invoices. These include, for example, the Ärztekasse and the Spital Thurgau.
4. Overview of tariff types: What tariffs are there?
According to the Health Insurance Act (Art. 43), service providers may use three types of tariffs to bill for their work:
Individual service tariff
Time-based tariff
Flat-rate tariff
In individual service remuneration, service providers invoice the insured person for each individual service. It must be based on the Tarmed tariff structure.
The tax points of the service are offset against the tax point value of the canton. The time required for the service is already taken into account when calculating the tax points.
Example: Doctors charge for the basic consultation for the first five minutes using the individual service tariff (tariff number 00.0010).
Good to know: There is also a distinction between medical and technical services. Medical services are treatments carried out by the doctor. Technical services include, for example, the personnel costs of non-medical staff and material costs.
This tariff is usually used for care services. Here, the costs for the services are based on the time required.
Good to know: The costs for care services are legally set (Art. 7a KLV). The prices apply to services under the Health Insurance Act. Insured persons must pay the costs for domestic and social services themselves.
In the case of the flat-rate tariff, health insurance companies and service providers agree on a flat-rate fee for the treatment. This is always the same regardless of the actual effort. The tariff is mainly used for inpatient treatment in hospitals.
The amount of the flat rate may vary depending on the hospital. This is because health insurance companies negotiate the flat rates with each hospital individually. The Conference of Cantonal Health Directors provides an overview of tariffs.
5. Tarmed services: What is included?
The Tarmed services include over 4,600 different items. The catalogue covers a large part of the medical services in various specialist areas. These include consultations, diagnostics and therapeutic and surgical interventions.
Health insurers check whether the invoiced services were necessary for the treatment, since under the Health Insurance Act, basic insurance only covers services that are effective, appropriate and economical (Art. 32 KVG). Obviously incorrect charges will be contested by your health insurer.
Check the doctor’s invoices carefully as well, since, unlike the health insurer, one knows, for example, how long a consultation lasted or how many packs of medication were received. If mistakes are identified, inform the health insurer.
6. Frequently asked questions about Tarmed
A Tarmed invoice is a medical bill drawn up in accordance with the Tarmed tariff structure. The tariff structure is uniform throughout Switzerland. It applies to all outpatient medical services provided in Switzerland.
Tardoc and the outpatient flat rates will come into force on 1 January 2026. They will replace Tarmed.
The Association of Swiss Doctors offers a publicly accessible Tarmed Browser. The Tarmed regulations and tariff items are listed there. There is also a Tarmed Browser from Mitosch GmbH.
«Tarmed AL» stands for the medical services during treatment. This includes, for example, a consultation and an examination.
«Tarmed TL» refers to the technical services. These include:
Personnel costs of non-medical staff
Material costs: for example, consumables, insurance and repairs
Allocations: for example, administrative costs, vehicle costs and the technical service
Facility usage costs: depreciation, return on capital, costs for rent and leasing
The Tarmed tax point value varies from canton to canton. It is usually between 80 centimes and one franc.
The amount of the emergency flat rate depends on the time of the emergency. There is also a difference between emergencies with telephone and personal contact.
In the case of personal contact, the emergency flat rate is between 50 and 180 tax points. It is cheaper on weekdays and during the day than at weekends and at night. In the case of telephone consultations, service providers may between 30 and 70 tax points charge.
Good to know: the emergency flat rate is in addition to the treatment costs. Depending on the timing of the emergency, service providers may charge up to 50% more tax points than provided for under Tarmed.
The Tarmed includes more than 4,600 items. They are divided into 40 categories.
Tarmed has been in force since 1 January 2004. It is valid until the end of 2025. On 1 January 2026, it will be replaced by Tardoc and the outpatient flat rates.
This article was first published on 18.08.2022
