Dr. Michiel Sprenger, senior advisor of the National ICT Institute in de Zorg (NICTIZ), gave a lecture entitled, “Health ICT policy: lessons and transitions in the Netherlands”, at this breakfast meeting. Dr. Sprenger has many years of experience in this field. He talked about the establishment of NICTIZ, where he works as a strategic advisor, and its progress up until now, as well as policy transitions and lessons learned in health ICT policy in the Netherlands.

[ Summary ]

Structure of NICTIZ
NICTIZ is a third-party organization that aims to expand patient information sharing among hospitals through coordination among domestic health ICT systems.
It was established with the goal of simplifying the sharing of patient records, which are stored in various health systems, through the introduction of country-wide ICT infrastructure.
In the beginning, there was opposition to legislation related to NICTIZ’s suggestion of making a unified system for information collecting and sharing due to privacy concerns. However, following intensive disputes among Dutch citizens, and Europeans in general, in 2014, the Netherlands’ Health Care Information Council was established.
This Council brought together all stakeholders in the aim of achieving compromise and the construction of a sustainable health ICT platform.

The formation of a people-centered health ICT platform
As of October 2016, patients and citizens are now able to access their own health information electronically.
A law has been passed granting people the right to make their own decisions on how their medical information should be handled, and whom to share it with.
The Netherlands continues to consistently aim for the creation of a patient and people focused health ICT platform.

Promotion of health ICT
The implementation of electronic clinical records and a health ICT system does not guarantee that everything will go smoothly for the promotion of health ICT.
The essential promotion of health ICT is made possible through the integration and unification of appropriate policies, health processes, information, implementation systems, and technology.

Q &A Session
In modern democratic nations, there are concerns about the kinds of consensuses that must be achieved for users such as citizens and patients in regards to the collection and active use of health information.
There were many questions and comments about lessons learned by the Dutch and useful examples that could be implemented elsewhere, as Japan also faces many of the political and ethical issues discussed.

Exhibition date：2016-10-21