ENClinics rarely quote the cost of brain injury rehabilitation in Germany over the phone, although after a traumatic brain injury the family wants a clinic and a price at once. This is no sales trick: rehabilitation here is costed per patient, after a doctor has read the records.
Below: what the bill is made of, why the sum comes only after the records, what is billed separately and where this rehabilitation is done; the programme itself: rehabilitation after a traumatic brain injury in Germany. There are no figures here, nor can there be: the clinic issues a written estimate for one patient.
What the bill is made of
The bill is the clinic’s daily rate plus extras. The rate covers the bed, nursing, medical supervision and an agreed number of daily sessions: physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy and, after a brain injury, usually neuropsychology for memory, attention and behaviour. The number and type of sessions, not the hospital’s fame, set a day’s price.
The main multiplier is the phase of recovery, explained under cost of neurological rehabilitation in Germany. Phases run from the early one, with intensive monitoring, sometimes breathing support and constant nursing, to the late one, when the patient walks and relearns independent life. An early-phase day costs markedly more: monitoring is continuous, intensive care is on standby and every task takes more staff.
Extras are a single room, treatment by the head of department, a companion’s bed and a medical interpreter for therapy and talks with doctors. After a brain injury the interpreter is essential: speech therapy and neuropsychology work through words and memory.
| Cost item | Depends on | Guide figure |
|---|---|---|
| Daily rate | phase, sessions | per clinic estimate |
| Room, head of department, companion | the family’s choice | per clinic estimate |
| Interpreter, transport | hours, mode of transport | separate estimate |
| On-site services | scans, consultations, injections, orthoses | clinic invoice; GOÄ for doctors |
Why the exact sum comes only after the records
Because the clinic must first know who is coming, and only the records show it: a recent discharge report; notes on consciousness and independence, breathing and feeding, any tracheostomy (a breathing tube in the neck) or catheters, seizures and behaviour; and CT or MRI images. A restless, confused patient needs constant supervision, which changes the ward and the estimate.
From this the doctor decides the phase, how many sessions a day the patient will tolerate and how many weeks are worth planning. That is where the sum comes from.
An estimate covers a period and is revised: faster progress shortens the course, slower progress brings a new estimate. A “final price up front” is meaningless, as nobody knows how fast an injured brain recovers; ask for a clear estimate for the first agreed period. General guidance: rehabilitation prices in Germany.
What is billed separately
Travel, on-site services and the administrative side are paid outside the clinic’s bill. Transport depends on the patient’s condition: a scheduled flight with a relative, a medically escorted flight, or an air ambulance if a ventilator or constant monitoring is needed; from the airport, an intensive care ambulance.
On site the patient may need repeat CT or MRI, a neurosurgeon or epileptologist, botulinum toxin for spasticity (persistent muscle stiffness), orthoses, a fitted wheelchair or non-standard medication. If skull bone was removed in surgery, a neurosurgeon decides when to replace it; that operation is separate treatment. Doctors’ services outside the daily rate are billed under the official physicians’ fee schedule (GOÄ).
Administration means the visa invitation, the interpreter and the companion’s accommodation. As for money: the clinic usually asks for a deposit and sends the final invoice directly to the patient.
Where brain injury rehabilitation is done
It is done not in general spa sanatoriums but in neurological rehabilitation hospitals with units for severely affected patients; see neurological rehabilitation in Germany. One is Kliniken Schmieder: six locations in Baden-Württemberg, around 14,000 neurological patients a year and, since 1991, an early rehabilitation unit in Allensbach for the most severely affected.
Prof. Michael Jöbges is medical director in Konstanz, focusing on rehabilitation of motor and neuropsychological deficits. Prof. Mircea Ariel Schoenfeld heads neurorehabilitation in Heidelberg; a cognitive neurologist, he studies brain recovery, including after traumatic brain injury. Prof. Anastasios Chatzikonstantinou leads acute neurology and early rehabilitation in Allensbach.
Others are the Schön Klinik Bad Aibling Harthausen in Bavaria, with intensive care and early rehabilitation, and the Godeshöhe Neurological Rehabilitation Centre in Bonn, which also treats head injuries. Hospitals run such units too: at the BG Klinikum Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin, Dr Ingo Schmehl heads the department of neurology with a stroke unit and early rehabilitation. Choose by phase, not ranking: a ventilated patient needs weaning, a walking one a strong late-phase programme; see rehabilitation clinics in Germany.
Frequently asked questions
How much does brain injury rehabilitation cost in Germany?
There is no single price: the clinic states the sum in a written estimate after reading the discharge report, images and a description of the patient’s condition. The phase weighs most: an early-phase day costs markedly more than a late one. Room, companion, interpreter, transport and on-site services come on top.
Are unconscious or ventilated patients accepted for rehabilitation?
Yes: the early phase exists for exactly such patients, though not every clinic offers it. Ventilated patients need a unit experienced in weaning: Kliniken Schmieder runs a certified weaning centre in Allensbach. Such days cost more and their number is harder to predict, so the estimate covers a first period.
Can a relative stay with the patient?
That depends on the clinic, and it is always a separate line in the estimate. A companion may get a bed in the patient’s room, a guest room or only a nearby hotel. Families often want to be there from day one, so ask about this before the estimate is drawn up.
How AlenMed arranges treatment
To get an estimate quickly, AlenMed collects and translates the records, asks several clinics of the right phase at once and shows the family what each day includes and excludes. It works with 86 partner hospitals in 38 cities and 345 doctors; its office is in Munich.
Then come agreeing the date, the visa invitation, transport, meeting on arrival, a medical interpreter and making sure the clinic invoices directly, with no mark-up added. For costs in general, see treatment prices in Germany.
This material is for information only and is not an offer. The programme, its length and cost are set by the clinic after an in-person examination and a review of the records.