Billing & credits · 3 min read · Beginner
Understanding per-minute and per-check pricing
A plain rate card for everything Amy does: $1.50 per talk minute, $0.25 per text or email, $5.00 per insurance check, and $10 a month for your number. No seats, no minimums, no contract.
Updated Jul 9, 2026
Valian pricing is deliberately simple: you pay for what Amy does, at published rates, with no seat licenses, no monthly minimums, and no long-term contract. This article lays out the full rate card and shows how per-minute and per-check billing work with a sample month.
Tip
The best way to understand your bill is to open the Billing tab and watch usage add up in real time. This page explains the rates behind those numbers.
The rate card
| What Amy does | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Answer or place a call | $1.50 per talk minute |
| Send or receive a text message | $0.25 per message |
| Send an email | $0.25 per email |
| Verify insurance in real time | $5.00 per check |
| Your dedicated phone number | $10.00 per month |
That's the whole list. There are no setup fees, onboarding fees, or per-patient charges layered on top.
How per-minute billing works
Calls are billed by the minute of actual talk time, at $1.50 a minute. A quick two-minute confirmation call is a small charge; a longer new-patient call that books an appointment and runs insurance is a bit more. You're only paying for the time Amy is genuinely on the line working for you.
Because Amy answers every call, you never lose a patient to a busy signal or voicemail — and each of those answered calls is a small, predictable line in your activity log.
How per-check billing works
Each real-time insurance verification is a flat $5.00, no matter how detailed the payer's response is. Amy runs a check automatically when she has a member ID and date of birth, usually while the patient is still on the phone. If a check needs to be run again — say a member ID had a typo — the re-run is a separate $5.00 check. Learn what happens on a check in How Amy verifies insurance in real time.
A sample month
Here's an illustrative single-location month. Your real numbers depend on your patient volume, so treat this as a shape, not a quote:
- 800 talk minutes × $1.50 = $1,200.00
- 350 text messages × $0.25 = $87.50
- 120 emails × $0.25 = $30.00
- 40 insurance checks × $5.00 = $200.00
- 1 phone number × $10.00 = $10.00
- Total: about $1,527.50
A busier practice with more calls and checks will spend more; a quieter one, less. Everything scales with what actually happens on your phones.
Note
Rates are current as of the date on this article and can change over time. Your billing terms are governed by your Valian agreement, and any change applies to your account going forward. You'll always be able to see your live rates and spend in Billing.
Frequently asked questions
Are there monthly minimums or setup fees? No. There is no minimum spend, no setup fee, and no per-seat charge. If Amy has a quiet week, you pay for a quiet week.
Does an unanswered or blocked call cost anything? You pay for the connected talk time when Amy handles a call. A text, email, or insurance check is only billed when it actually happens.
What is the $10 monthly charge for? That's the lease on your dedicated local phone number — the line patients dial. It's the one small recurring line on an otherwise usage-only bill.
Do these rates include the $1,000 credit? The credit is separate. It's a founding-customer match on your first wallet deposit that you can keep by finishing a short checklist. See How the $1,000 credit works.
Where do I see the rates applied to my own usage? Open the Billing tab. Each usage line shows its rate (for example, "$1.50 / min") next to the quantity and the resulting amount. For the full picture, read How is my usage metered and invoiced?.
Still need a hand?
Reach the Valian team any time at help@valiansystems.com, or open a ticket from the Help Center inside your dashboard. During onboarding, your onboarding contact is at onboarding@valiansystems.com.