News item | 4/18/2023 | 2:00 PM
Data exchange between healthcare providers must take place electronically instead of by fax, DVD or on paper. Today, the Senate unanimously approved the Electronic Data Exchange in Healthcare Bill (Wegiz). The aim is for the Wegiz to be introduced on 1 July 2023.
The aim of the Wegiz is that ICT systems will soon be able to communicate with each other, so that care providers can easily share data with each other. The Wegiz focuses on making agreements on electronic exchange compulsory. The Wegiz is about how data should be exchanged, not about whether data may be exchanged. The care providers determine themselves which data must be exchanged in order to provide good care and they then record this.
Minister Kuipers of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS): “Things have to change to keep healthcare of good quality, accessible and affordable. The Wegiz is an important step in that. Standardizing the exchange of data will contribute to ensuring that healthcare providers have access to the necessary medical information to provide good care, thereby improving the quality of care. The time that healthcare providers spend on administration is also reduced and the risk of avoidable errors is reduced. ”
Multi-year agenda
Together with the field, represented in the Healthcare Information Council, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport has a Multi-year agenda Wegiz in which four designated data exchanges are prioritized: Medication Transfer, Basic Data Set Care, Nursing Transfer and Image Availability. A fifth data exchange, namely that in Acute Care, has been added from the Integral Care Agreement (IZA).
The Wegiz is also included in the National vision and strategy on the health information system presented to the House of Representatives by the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport last week.