Tens of thousands of patients end up with higher medical bills because they go to a hospital for treatment rather than their family doctor, according to new research.

Having a wound stitched in hospital costs €405 while placing an IUD costs an average of €505, the research shows. By contrast, a family doctor charges €56 for fitting an IUD, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

Dutch hospital charges are currently standardised in a system known as the DBC, with a code and price tag attached to every sort of potential treatment. The DBC organisation has now put these costs online so that patients can see exactly what they are being charged for.

Plasters

Simple cuts can also be dealt with by family doctors rather than hospital accident and emergency departments. For example, in 2012, 21,000 people paid an average of €165 to have a wound closed with a special plaster.

Research by the Dutch patients’ association shows that people are often not aware of the high charges because the bill goes directly to their health insurer.

However, in many cases, insurers then demand payment from the patient because they have a high own-risk element in their insurance package.

All adults in the Netherlands have to pay the first €360 of their treatment but can voluntarily increase this to €860.