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New law: paper prescriptions, faxes and DVD's quickly out of Healthcare  

Digital exchange of data is a hot item in healthcare. Streamlined messaging prevents avoidable errors and saves time that caregivers can spend on patients. Read on to find out what we think is the solution!

Digital exchange of data is a hot item in healthcare. The government is currently working on a law that should put an end to situations where patients accompanied by a handwritten file and with a DVD full of photos are taken in the ambulance to another hospital1. Streamlined messaging prevents avoidable errors and saves time that caregivers can spend on patients.


Information is exchanged in many ways in the healthcare world. Think of radiology images, MRI and heart scans between hospitals. Or to nurses who, when a patient is transferred from a hospital to a nursing home, indicate whether they can still climb stairs independently. Pharmacists have to deal with prescriptions from general practitioners, letters from specialists and lab results, but also with the online ordering systems of drug manufacturers.

According to the government, it still happens too often that data is exchanged via paper, fax or DVDs. Healthcare providers spend a lot of time retyping data and patients sometimes have to explain the same situation several times. If data does not come through properly, if typing errors are made, this can have major consequences.


Stumbling block: different systems

An important stumbling block for digital messaging in hospitals, for example, is that despite the existence of the Electronic Patient File, they all work with their own IT systems. The government therefore wants unity in language and technology. Another requirement is that exchange is done securely and with the consent of the patient.

The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport uses slogans on its own website such as 'good healthcare is central', 'all DVDs out of healthcare', 'the paper prescription out of healthcare', but also: 'fines if you do not comply with the law'1+2. The Haga Hospital in The Hague and the Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis in Amsterdam can agree on the fact that this last comment is serious3+4. This year they were fined in the hundreds of thousands due to a data breach.


The Solution: EDI with a cloud-based integration system

A method that has been around for years to allow systems to talk to each other in a standardized way, regardless of the language, is EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). This works with a cloud-based integration platform, which converts data to any desired format. There is no longer any human intervention, which saves time and costs and reduces the chance of errors. It takes a one-off setup on both sides, but a partner can take that work off your hands. Saying goodbye to faxing and printing is a matter of hours at most.

A partner also helps with links and integrations, which creates all kinds of new possibilities. A pharmacist, for example, who connects an electronic cash register to the ordering system, can automatically replenish stocks. Getting more insights from data from multiple places can also give healthcare providers a more complete picture of a patient, leading to more accurate diagnosis and better care.


ECS can assist with this!

Our platform X4Connect is ideally suited to help any healthcare institution to implement EDI in a fast, but above all safe way! We have all the tools on our platform to quickly set up connections and integrate them with your back-end systems. We already have 176 existing connections in the pharmaceutical industry, including many hospital pharmacies. X4Connect is also fully scalable so you can start small and grow the platform with your organization.

Would you also like to know how you can quickly take advantage of all the benefits and realize major cost savings? Please contact us today via our contact form or 0229-574331.


  1. https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/item/eenvandaag-15-04-2021/
  2. https://www.gegevensuitwisselingindezorg.nl/gegevensuitwisseling
  3. https://www.gegevensuitwisselingindezorg.nl/gegevensuitwisseling/wetgevingstraject
  4. https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2021:3090
  5. https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/nl/nieuws/ziekenhuis-olvg-beboet-om-onvoldoende-beveiliging-medische-dossiers