News item | 06-11-2023 | 3:00 PM
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) is starting a public campaign about the importance of giving permission for the sharing of medical data. Healthcare providers may not share medical data with other healthcare providers without the patient’s consent. With the campaign ‘We take care of you, do you provide permission?’ VWS informs residents of the Netherlands about the options available and how they can give permission for their medical data to be shared. That’s what the website is for www.zorgvoortoestem.nl was created and a radio commercial can be heard on national radio.
Minister Ernst Kuipers: “In order to provide good care, it is crucial that healthcare providers have complete and up-to-date patient data. Fast and secure data exchange is essential for this. An important condition for data exchange is that the patient or client gives permission for this. Many people do not know that this is necessary. It is important that they know that they can make a choice and why it is important.”
Every healthcare provider in the Netherlands keeps an overview of the medical data of its own patients or clients. For example, the pharmacist knows which medications the patient is taking and the hospital has the results of the patient’s blood tests. A healthcare provider cannot share medical data with other healthcare providers involved without the patient’s consent. And the treating physician cannot see it immediately. Particularly in the event of an emergency, access – and therefore the patient’s consent – is of great importance. This way, no valuable time is lost on requesting data and the patient does not have to have his own medical data ready.
Permission overview in one place
Since the introduction of the Electronic Data Exchange in Healthcare Act (Wegiz), healthcare providers are obliged to exchange medical data electronically – not via CD-ROM or paper files. It is essential that this is done safely and reliably. The law stipulates that an important part of these exchanges requires explicit consent from the patient.
Patients now give consent via a form, by telephone or during an appointment with an individual healthcare provider. As a result, both the patient and the healthcare provider do not have a good overview of which permissions have been given to which healthcare provider. Mitz, a national online consent facility, offers a solution here. Through Mitz, people can easily arrange and manage their permissions. Not all healthcare providers use Mitz yet. Many healthcare providers will join in the near future. It is important that people register their choice in advance so that healthcare providers who join Mitz can immediately view the consent choice.