In November, patients in the Netherlands will be able to give permission for their personal health records to be kept in a new system, accessible to doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies across the country. Health insurance companies will not have access to the system, although they were involved in its development. This voluntary option for patients has come after a long battle over privacy concerns related to a centralized digital health records system.
Experts expect that giving health professionals access to patient files will lead to 1,900 fewer unnecessary deaths per year. The system will be funded by the government as well as health insurers through health insurance premiums.
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