News item | 11-04-2023 | 10:01
Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health, Welfare and Sport) is preparing a bill that will allow healthcare providers to prescribe medicines during or after contact with the patient via the internet. This is not yet possible, partly because the law states that the prescriber must first meet the patient in person. In the time it takes to amend the law, Minister Kuipers has issued a policy rule to ensure that prescribing during or after online contact is possible if no physical examination is required and the prescriber has the patient’s current medication information.
Minister Ernst Kuipers: “It is no longer of this time that a patient must necessarily have had physical contact with his prescriber. During the corona pandemic, we have seen in practice that it is quite possible to prescribe medicines via internet contact, under strict conditions. I would now like to give this possibility a legal basis. That is good news for patients, and also contributes to the accessibility of care.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate tolerated the prescription of medicines via video consultation. As a result, personal contacts were prevented and medicines could still be prescribed to patients. During the pandemic it became clear that this tolerance measure also meets a need in certain situations after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Building on the experience gained, the professional organizations are now developing further conditions to deal responsibly with prescribing to patients via the internet, without the prescriber having ever physically met the patient.
In anticipation of the legislative proposal, the minister has drawn up a policy rule to provide scope for responsible prescribing via the internet. Prescribing via the internet is also in line with the ambitions in the Integrated Care Agreement (IZA) on the use of digital healthcare applications.