More than half of doctors use video calls to contact patients, according to the e-health monitor 2022, which was carried out by RIVM. Since 2013, the monitor has been used to look at the state of digital healthcare in the Netherlands every year. Last year’s survey shows that more healthcare providers are using digital resources than in 2021.
For example, healthcare providers used video calls more often and there were more digital patient portals that allow patients to access their medical data, request repeat prescriptions or make an appointment. Of all digital means of communication, the e-consult is used most often by doctors. For example, 94 percent of GPs use it. More than half of the doctors also used video calls last year.
“Digital resources in healthcare can no longer be ignored in healthcare, all sectors within the healthcare domain are developing policy on digital healthcare”, the e-health monitor says. It states that healthcare is increasingly moving towards a “sustainable healthcare system”, in which healthcare is provided digitally if possible and physically if necessary. “The quantitative analysis shows that the use of digital applications is unabated,” said Minister Kuipers of Health about the study.
According to Kuipers, the results and recommendations are recognizable to him. “We have indeed taken steps when it comes to the use of digital or hybrid care.” The minister states that the choice for physical care should be motivated by the fact that patient and doctor together believe that this is the best way of care. “Not just because it’s possible again.” The recommendations of the monitor are included in the development of various care programmes.