Tasks of the National Health Care Institute
The National Health Care Institute is an advisory and implementing organisation responsible for the following tasks:
- We advise the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport regarding the content of the health insurance package or formulate opinions in that regard.
- We promote the quality, affordability, and accessibility of care by identifying opportunities for innovations and improvements in the care sector and providing relevant information accordingly.
- We develop information standards to allow for efficient and effective information exchange in the care sector, so that policymakers, health insurers, and healthcare providers can make better decisions.
- We encourage the utilisation of digital care and explore the potential opportunities for applying new technologies, AI, data science, and international developments.
- We manage the funds for the Health Insurance Act and the Long-term Care Act, and provide information about the costs of care.
- We take care of risk adjustment in the care sector. We do so to ensure that it makes no difference for health insurers whether they cover the costs of care for old or young persons, or for healthy or unhealthy persons.
Taking care of good healthcare
Every person in the Netherlands is entitled to health care offered in the basic care package.
We all contribute to this through our health insurance.
The National Health Care Institute determines and advises on which types of health care are included in the basic package and which are not.
Treatment possibilities and their related costs have increased in recent years, and will continue to increase.
These treatments are also often used for a broader group of patients.
The Care Institute therefore wants to draw more attention to how insured care can be offered. Who receives which care?
Professionals largely determine what type of care to offer for which health issue.
But... is this care necessary and effective for every patient? Is Appro¬priate Care being applied?
To determine this, we need to focus on what takes place in the consultation room, where the doctor and patient together decide on the best treatment.
This requires good collaboration with professionals and patients on the ap¬plication of Appropriate Care.
We encourage health care parties to structure their guidelines and quality standards to provide the individual patient with the proper care.
We do this together with scientific organisations, as well as health care pro¬viders, patient organisations and health insurers.
In other words, we continuously monitor the scope of the basic package.
We also call for greater focus on collaboration to ensure appropriate care.
This enables us to reduce pressure on the boundaries of the package and keep the insured care accessible... of good quality... and affordable, now and in the future.
Taking care of good healthcare – no more and no less than necessary