Switzerland

Healthcare System

Mandatory private health insurance for all residents under the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG/LAMal, 1996). Everyone must purchase basic insurance from one of ~60 approved insurers. Highest per-capita health spending in Europe. Cantonal system: 26 cantons regulate hospitals and set health policy.

System Type: Universal mandatory private insurance (regulated competition)
Regulatory Body: Swissmedic (Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products) — drug and medical device regulation. FOPH (Federal Office of Public Health / BAG / OFSP / UFSP) — health policy, KVG oversight, tariff regulation.
Data Protection: FADP (Federal Act on Data Protection / DSG / LPD / LPD) — Swiss data protection law, GDPR-aligned since 2023 revision. HRA (Health-Related Data) provisions for medical data. Cantonal data protection authorities.
Currency: CHF
Emergency Number: 144
Languages: de, fr, it

Coding Systems

diagnosis

ICD-10-GM

ICD-10 German Modification. Switzerland uses the German modification (same as Germany) for diagnosis coding, maintained by BfArM and adopted by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Updated annually.

dental

FDI (ISO 3950)

Federation Dentaire Internationale two-digit notation. Standard across Europe including Switzerland.

procedures

TARMED

Tarif médical et pharmacien — Swiss outpatient procedure tariff. Hierarchical codes (chapter.section.subsection) with tariff points (not currency). Covers consultations, examinations, interventions, imaging. Maintained by TaraMed AG under federal supervision.

inpatient Procedures

SwissDRG

Swiss Diagnosis-Related Groups — inpatient procedure and case classification. Based on German G-DRG with Swiss adaptations. ~950 DRG groups.

dental Procedures

SSO tariff

Swiss Dental Society (SSO/SST/SOI) tariff for dental procedures. Separate from TARMED. Points-based system similar to TARMED.

drugs

Swissmedic

Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) — drug registration and authorization. GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) used for pharmacy identification. Specialitées list (SL) for reimbursed drugs.

Translation Corridors

DE→CH (German frontier workers in Basel/Zurich region) FR→CH (French frontaliers in Geneva/Lausanne/Jura — ~90,000) IT→CH (Italian cross-border workers in Ticino) AT→CH (Austrian workers in Vorarlberg/St. Gallen) IN→CH (Indian professionals in pharma/banking) CH→DE (Swiss residents seeking German specialist care) CH→FR (French-speaking Swiss using French healthcare) CH→US (Swiss expats on US employer insurance)

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