Information for healthcare providers

Legislation on cross-border healthcare

European regulations allow citizens of EU countries to receive medical treatment in another EU country. This is regulated in Directive 2011/24/EU and in European Regulation 883/2004. More information can be found on the page. More information can be found on the page 'European legislation'.

What do you need to take into account?

Various matters will crop up when you treat a patient from another EU country, unlike when you supply healthare to Dutch insured persons. We have listed a number of matters that are important for you in such cases.

• You have established that you patient has come to the Netherlands in order to undergo treatment.
• This is not about treatment on the ground of the European Regulation; in that case the patient gives an S2/E112-form. This is used by his health insurer to give him permission for the treatment. Check also whether this form was specifically issued for that healthcare or for you as a healthcare provider, and whether the form is valid for the period during which you supply healthcare.
• If a patient is involved who is already staying in the Netherlands temporarily (e.g. due to a holiday or study) and who is treated for a medical emergency, then the procedures that apply are on the grounds of the EHIC. For more information about this, you should contact Zilveren Kruis, telephone: + 31 (0) 33 445 68 70, e-mail: [email protected].
• You should inform the patient that he will first have to pay for the costs of treatment himself. These costs should be the same as you would charge for the same treatment for a Dutch patient in the same situation.
• The patient has informed you about his medical history and you may have received the necessary copies of his medical file(s).
• You have included all medical interventions carried out, diagnoses and examination results in the medical file.
• If you prescribe medicines or medical devices, you should bear in mind that the patient will be purchasing these in his own country. The prescription should therefore fulfil a number of conditions. More information can be found in the paragraph below entitled "Prescriptions from another EU country".

Prescriptions from another EU country

You may be confronted with a Dutch insured patient for whom medicines or medical devices were prescribed in another EU country. On the grounds of the Regeling Geneesmiddelenwet [Medicines Act Regulations] (only in Dutch), you must accept that prescription if it fulfils certain conditions. These can be found in the annex to the Directive on the mutual recognition of prescriptions from another EU member state (Directive 2012/25/EU). If this is the case, you must provide the patient with the medicine or medical device in accordance with the foreign prescription.

What information should appear on the prescription?

The prescription must include at least the following information:

• details for identifying the patient;
• details for authenticating the prescription;
• details for identifying the healthcare provider who wrote the prescription;
• (where applicable) details for identifying the prescribed product.

The annex to Directive 2012/25/EU explains exactly which details these are. (pdf, 714 kB)

Netherlands National Contact Point for e-Health (NCPeH-NL)

The Netherlands National Contact Point e-Health (NCPeH-NL) is an application that allows you, being a healthcare provider, to request online patient summaries from citizens from EU countries who need (un)planned care in the Netherlands. This can only be done if you work at a healthcare organisation that is affiliated to the NCPeH-NL, for example a hospital.

On the NCPeH-NL website you'll find more information. However, information on how to use this application is only available in Dutch.