“Is my prescription still valid?”, “What do I have to pay myself?”, “Can you come to my home?” The front desk of a physiotherapy practice hears these three questions every day, usually on the phone and usually at the very moment someone is waiting on the treatment table. Around 8.5 billion euros are spent each year by German statutory health insurance on physiotherapy services, which amounts to around 32 million prescriptions (GKV-Spitzenverband, the umbrella association of the statutory health insurers). Behind every prescription is a person who wants to know by when they have to start and what it will cost them. The practice website can answer these questions before the phone rings, with a source and an as-of date rather than rules of thumb. This article shows which information belongs on a physiotherapy website, how to explain the start deadline, the co-payment, the blank prescription and home visits clearly without promising a cure, and why the same website is also the practice’s most important recruiting page.
The questions that reach the front desk
Anyone who runs a physiotherapy practice knows the list by heart. It is short and rarely changes: it is about deadlines, about money, about where the treatment takes place and about whether an appointment is available at all.
What is special about these questions is that the practice does not set the answers itself. They follow from rules that are the same for everyone with statutory insurance: from the German Social Code, from the Remedies Directive and from the arrangements for the blank prescription. That is exactly why they suit a permanent page. What applies to everyone does not have to be explained afresh on the phone each time, and what applies only to an individual case is settled by the front desk with the prescription in hand.
- By when do I have to start treatment, and what happens if I cannot make it?
- What do I pay myself, and do I get a receipt for it?
- My prescription only states the diagnosis. Is that correct?
- Can you come to my home, and who decides that?
- What does a treatment cost if I have private insurance or pay myself?
- How do I get an appointment, and do I have to call for it?
Each of these questions gets a permanent place on the website: its own subheading, two to four sentences of answer, a reference to the rule the answer follows from, and a visible as-of date. The format is familiar from a good FAQ page built on real customer questions. What is added here is that the answers come from social security law and can change. A line such as “As of 7 October 2026” under each section costs nothing and shows every reader how old a statement is. The front desk gains twice: fewer calls with standard questions and more calls in which the person already has the prescription in front of them.
From prescription to first treatment: 28 or 14 days
The most important number on the prescription page is the deadline for starting treatment.
The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) puts it like this: without an urgent need for treatment, the patient has “up to 28 calendar days to begin”; if the prescription is marked as urgent, treatment must begin within 14 calendar days (Federal Joint Committee, translated from the German). For the website this means that the cross next to “urgent” is not a detail; it halves the time. Anyone holding the prescription should see immediately on the page where this box sits on the form and which of the two deadlines therefore applies. A small image of the prescription form with the box highlighted helps more than any further sentence.
What happens after the deadline is set out in the Remedies Directive itself: “If treatment with the remedy cannot be started within the periods specified in paragraph 1, the prescription loses its validity.” A treatment that has already started can also cost the prescription. If it is interrupted for more than 14 calendar days without adequate justification, the prescription likewise loses its validity (Section 15(2) and Section 16(4) of the Remedies Directive, translated from the German). Both rules belong on the website in everyday language, because they hit exactly the cases that cause trouble at the front desk: the prescription that sat in a drawer for five weeks, and the long break in the middle of a series.
Your prescription: start by when?
Not marked “urgent”:
Start within 28 calendar days of the prescription date.
Marked “urgent”:
Start within 14 calendar days.
If the deadline is missed, the prescription becomes invalid.
Please get in touch as soon as you have the prescription.
We will agree the appointment with you.
Source: Federal Joint Committee, Remedies Directive
As of: 7 October 2026Do not do the maths for your patients
Two special cases each deserve a sentence of their own. After a hospital stay, the hospital can also prescribe remedies, for up to 7 days. Treatment must then be started within 7 days and completed within 12 days (Federal Joint Committee). Anyone who calls after discharge therefore needs an appointment quickly, and the website should say so openly, for example with a separate note: “Prescription from the hospital: please get in touch straight away”. At the other end are patients with a long-term need for remedies, for whom a prescription can be issued repeatedly for 12 weeks at a time (Federal Joint Committee). For them the question is not “When do I start?” but “How does it continue without a gap?”.
Co-payment: making 10 percent plus 10 euros clear
The co-payment is the second perennial question, and here it pays to take the statute at its word.
Under Section 61 sentence 3 of Book V of the German Social Code (SGB V), the co-payment for remedies amounts to “10 percent of the costs plus 10 euros per prescription”. Section 32(2) SGB V assigns this co-payment to insured persons “who have reached the age of eighteen”, payable to the dispensing provider, in other words the practice (Sections 61 and 32 SGB V, translated from the German). On the website this becomes a sentence everyone understands: adults pay 10 percent of the treatment costs and 10 euros once per prescription. Children and young people under 18 do not pay this co-payment.
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| Who | What applies | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Insured persons aged 18 and over | 10 percent of the costs plus 10 euros per prescription | Section 61 sentence 3 and Section 32(2) SGB V |
| Insured persons under 18 | no co-payment for remedies | Section 32(2) SGB V, co-payment only from the 18th birthday |
| Burden limit reached | certificate from the health insurer, then no co-payment for the rest of the calendar year | Section 62(1) sentence 1 SGB V |
| Chronically ill people in long-term treatment | burden limit of 1 instead of 2 percent of annual gross income | Section 62(1) sentence 2 SGB V |
Two additions belong directly underneath. First, there is a ceiling. Within a calendar year, insured persons only pay co-payments up to the burden limit, which is 2 percent of annual gross income for living expenses, or 1 percent for chronically ill people in long-term treatment. Once it is reached, the health insurer issues a certificate (Section 62(1) SGB V). For the practice this means that anyone who presents such a certificate pays nothing more for the rest of the calendar year, and the website asks patients to bring it to the first appointment. Second, every co-payment comes with a receipt, because co-payments made are “to be acknowledged by receipt to the insured person” (Section 61 sentence 4 SGB V, translated from the German). The sentence “You receive a receipt for every co-payment” answers a question many people are too unsure to ask.
Co-payment per prescription =
10 % of the costs of all treatments on the prescription
+ 10 euros once per prescription
No co-payment:
- insured persons under 18
- with an exemption certificate from the health insurer
The co-payment is paid at the practice and receipted.
Legal basis: Sections 61, 32(2) and 62 SGB V
As of: 7 October 2026Why no euro amounts per treatment
Blank prescription: a diagnosis instead of specifications on the form
Since 1 November 2024, physiotherapy has had the blank prescription, for selected conditions of the shoulder (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, KBV).
The GKV-Spitzenverband lists around 100 indications in diagnosis group EX and expects that about 6.5 percent of the around 32 million physiotherapy prescriptions could in future be issued as blank prescriptions, which means up to 2 million a year (GKV-Spitzenverband). For a practice this is not a side issue. Patients arrive with a prescription that says less than usual and ask whether that is how it is supposed to be.
The answer belongs on the website, and it is simple. With a blank prescription, the doctor makes the diagnosis, and the therapist decides on the remedy, the quantity and the frequency. There is also a firm time limit: the blank prescription covers a care period of at most 16 weeks from the prescription date, an interruption does not extend this period, and after that a new prescription from a doctor is needed (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians). These three sentences, together with an as-of date, answer most follow-up questions.
What is on the prescription
The diagnosis in the shoulder area, but no further details on remedy, quantity and frequency. That is how a blank prescription is meant to be.
How long it applies
At most 16 weeks from the prescription date. Breaks do not extend the period; after that a new prescription from a doctor is needed.
Who decides what
The practice sets the type, number and rhythm of the treatments and takes responsibility for them. Whether a home visit is needed is still decided by the doctor.
With a blank prescription, doctors and psychotherapists make the diagnosis, but they give no further details on remedy, quantity and frequency.
More leeway is not a promise of a cure
Home visits: who decides where treatment happens
The third perennial question is: “Can you come to me?” The honest answer does not start with the practice but with the prescription.
Under the Remedies Directive, prescribing a home visit is only permitted if the patient cannot attend the practice for medical reasons or if the home visit is strictly necessary for medical reasons (Section 11 of the Remedies Directive). With a blank prescription, too, doctors decide whether a home visit is necessary (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians). A clear sentence therefore belongs on the website: “We provide home visits on a statutory prescription when a home visit has been prescribed.”
If a home visit has been prescribed, the therapist can, after agreeing with the patient, treat either at home or in the practice, and this also applies to the blank prescription (National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians). This is where the website should become specific: in which towns or districts the practice offers home visits, on which weekdays and with how much notice. A collection of separate town pages is not needed for this. A map or a clear list is enough, as described in the article Show your service area instead of stacking city pages.
- Does your prescription include a home visit? Then give us your address with your request and tell us when you are easy to reach.
- Is your home in our home visit area? The towns and districts are listed further up on this page.
- We get back to you with a suggested appointment and name the weekday on which we are in your area.
- Without a prescribed home visit, treatment on a statutory prescription takes place in the practice.
Private and self-pay: separate sections, separate prices
Private health insurance, civil service allowances and self-pay services follow different rules from the statutory prescription, and that should be visible on the website too.
A single page on which statutory services, private prescriptions and classes are mixed together creates exactly the follow-up questions you wanted to avoid. Separate sections with their own headings work better: one for the statutory prescription, one for the private prescription and one for services that can be booked without a prescription. As soon as prices appear on the page, the German Price Indication Ordinance applies. Anyone who offers services to consumers stating prices, or advertises them with prices, “must state the total prices” (Section 3(1) PAngV, translated from the German). How to show prices so that they inform rather than deter is covered in the article Showing prices on your website.
Scroll table sideways
| Question | Statutory prescription | Private prescription | Self-pay service |
|---|---|---|---|
| What determines the costs? | remuneration with the health insurer, co-payment under Section 61 SGB V | invoice from the practice, reimbursement under the insurance contract | agreed price, shown on the page as a total price under Section 3 PAngV |
| What goes on the website? | deadlines, co-payment, exemption, home visits | note that reimbursement depends on the plan | service, duration, total price, as-of date |
| Typical follow-up question | Is my prescription still valid? | Will my insurance pay for everything? | Do I need a prescription for this? |
The same boundary applies to all three sections. The page describes what the practice offers and how the process works, not what the treatment achieves. The German Healthcare Advertising Act puts it in one short sentence: “Misleading advertising is prohibited.” (Section 3 HWG, translated from the German). Which further details health professions have to observe, from the professional title to the legal notice, is covered in depth in the article Medical practice website: compliant and patient-friendly. For the prescription page a rule of thumb is enough: classes, equipment and methods may be described, promises of a cure and success stories do not belong on the page.
The request: statutory, private or self-pay, urgent yes or no
Once the questions are answered, the actual purpose of the page remains: the appointment request. This is where it is decided whether the front desk works through a list of callbacks the next morning or a list of complete requests.
XICflow builds the practice website from one of the industry templates listed on the XICflow features page, and the “Form” block can be extended with custom fields, including select lists. This lets the form ask whether the treatment is to be billed to the statutory insurer, privately or as a self-pay service, and whether “urgent” is ticked on the prescription. Every request lands in the “Requests” area, an email notification goes to the practice if desired, and the entries can be exported as a CSV file, with a separate column for every custom field. How this works in detail is explained in the guide Requests and team.
1 Name text field, required
2 Phone phone field, required
3 Email email field
4 Billing select: statutory, private, self-pay
5 Marked urgent? select: yes, no, no prescription yet
6 Date of prescription text field, for example 02.10.2026
7 Home visit prescribed? select: yes, no
8 Preferred times select: mornings, afternoons, any
9 Message multi-line, optional, no diagnosis
10 Consent required, with a link to the privacy policyNo diagnosis in free text
The practice website is also the job advert
The second group of readers is not sitting in the waiting room.
The German Federal Employment Agency has calculated the vacancy periods in physiotherapy for 2025: the figure rose by 24 days from 280 to 304 days, and according to the agency there are still 2.61 open positions for every unemployed physiotherapist (IFK – Federal Association of Self-Employed Physiotherapists). Anyone advertising a position is therefore competing with other practices for few applicants, and those applicants look at the website first. The prescription page, the team page and the jobs page give them a view of everyday working life: how organised is the practice, how does it talk to patients, and how much of what could be on the page still ends up on the phone?
There is movement in the other direction too. In the 2024/25 school year, the number of physiotherapy students grew by 1.7 percent and the number of graduates by 8.6 percent (IFK – Federal Association of Self-Employed Physiotherapists). Reaching these career starters takes a careers page that says more than “We are looking for reinforcements”. How such a page is structured is covered in the article Careers page: attracting skilled staff with your own website; why a salary range in the advert helps is covered in the article Starting salary in the job ad. A similar pattern with two audiences on one website is shown by the home care website for families and staff.
- Name working-time models specifically: part-time, fixed afternoons, home visit rounds yes or no.
- Describe further training: which certified qualifications the practice supports and how training days are handled.
- State a salary range, or at least how it is determined, with an as-of date.
- Show the team with professional titles and specialisms so that applicants can see who they would be working with.
- Offer a short application form instead of a bare email address, with clear deletion periods, as described in the article Accepting job applications online.
- Say how quickly the practice usually replies and name a person applicants can call.
Team page: separate the professional title from further qualifications
The team page holds a peculiarity of the profession. “Physiotherapeutin” and “Physiotherapeut”, the German titles for physiotherapist, are professional titles that require a licence: anyone who wants to use them “requires a licence” (Section 1(1) MPhG, the German Masseurs and Physiotherapists Act, translated from the German). The same applies to the titles for masseur and medical balneotherapist. On the website the professional title therefore appears exactly as it is licensed, and separately from anything someone has learned in addition. Manual therapy, manual lymphatic drainage or equipment-based exercise therapy are further training with a certificate, not professions of their own, and they belong on a second line.
Scroll table sideways
| Detail | What it is | How it appears on the team page |
|---|---|---|
| Physiotherapist (Physiotherapeutin, Physiotherapeut) | professional title requiring a licence under Section 1 MPhG | as the first line under the name |
| Masseur and medical balneotherapist | professional title requiring a licence under Section 1 MPhG | as the first line under the name |
| Manual therapy, manual lymphatic drainage | further qualification with a certificate | as the second line, with the year completed |
| Classes, back school, training | service offered by the practice | on the services page, not next to the name |
Two practical points go with this. Photos of staff only go on the page with their consent, and anyone who leaves the practice disappears from the team page promptly. A team page that still lists people who have long since moved on is noticed more by applicants than by patients. It also says something about how well the rest of the site is maintained, and readers then draw exactly that conclusion about the information on deadlines and co-payments as well.
Maintain it with an as-of date instead of letting it age
Everything in this article that comes from laws and directives can change. The Remedies Directive notes on its title page that it was last amended on 15 May 2025 and came into force on 5 August 2025 (Federal Joint Committee).
Anyone who writes the prescription page once and then forgets about it will sooner or later be explaining a rule that no longer applies. The remedy is simple: an as-of date under every section and a fixed date in the calendar on which someone reads the page against the sources. How to find such statements with an expiry date systematically is shown in the article Declutter your website copy.
And because many patients of a physiotherapy practice are older, readability counts as much as content: large type, enough contrast, phone number and request form reachable without searching, including on a phone. In XICflow, a contrast check following WCAG 2.2 AA measures the theme's text colours as soon as you save and corrects colours that are too weak automatically; it reports any remaining violations as a notice before every publication. More on this is on the XICflow accessibility page, and what else counts on a small screen is covered in the article Mobile usability for business websites.
What counts in the end