Information VZVZ

About electronic sharing of your medical data electronically

Why do your general practitioner and pharmacy want to share your medical data electronically? This brochure explains why your general practitioner and pharmacy want to share your medical data electronically. It also explains how to give your consent for this.

Better care with the right information

Disease, injuries or accidents are often unexpected. Because of this, you may have to go to a different doctor, the after-hours medical clinic or a different pharmacy. It may be important for the doctor or pharmacy to have access to up-to-date information about your health, so he can help you as quickly and effectively as possible.

The LSP (National Exchange Point) provides up-to-date information

The LSP is a secure network. Doctors and pharmacies can connect to it with their computer systems. They can use this network to access the most important data from your files at your own general practitioner and pharmacy. That way your medical data is always available. Even in the evening and on weekends. But only if your general practitioner and your pharmacy have submitted these data to the LSP. They need your consent to do so!

How does the LSP work?

Your general practitioner and your pharmacy maintain a file with your information

The file from your general practitioner lists your symptoms and how they are treated. The file from your pharmacy lists the medications you have received, and whether there are certain medications you cannot take.

You can give your consent for the LSP

If you give your consent, your general practitioner or pharmacy submit the most relevant data from your file to the LSP. The physicians on duty at the after-hours clinic can then look at those medical data. Other pharmacies and medical specialists are only able to see which medications you use. Your data remains in your general practitioner and pharmacy’s computer system.

If you have an accident during the weekend

You will end up at the after-hours clinic or at the hospital. You will be seen by a different doctor.

This other doctor will access your most relevant medical data

He will do so only if it is necessary for your treatment. That way he knows what he should be aware of, like other symptoms you have or medications you are taking.

You might have to get medications from a different pharmacy

That pharmacy can find out via the LSP which medications you get from your own pharmacy. That way he knows whether the medications you are getting can be taken in combination with other medications, and whether you are allergic to certain medications.

Your own general practitioner and pharmacy will receive notification from the LSP that you have been treated by another health practitioner and which medications you received.

That way your general practitioner knows what treatment you received, and your pharmacy knows what medications you received.

Ms De Vries suffers from heart problems
“My general practitioner suggested we should wait and see. Maybe that nasty cough was nothing more than a cold, and had nothing to do with the new medications I had received recently. He did tell me that I could get different medications if the cough didn’t go away. During the weekend the cough got worse. It even got so bad that I called the afterhours clinic. They were able to see me right away. Fortunately the doctor at the after-hours clinic was able to see that my general practitioner was planning on changing my medication, because I had given my consent for the LSP. I got new medications right away and the cough disappeared.”

How do you give your consent?

Your general practitioner and pharmacy can’t just release your current medical data. They can only do so if you have given your consent. This is to safeguard your privacy. It is entirely up to you whether you give your consent or not.

There are 3 ways to give consent

1. You tell your general practitioner and your pharmacy.
2. You submit a completed consent form to your general practitioner and pharmacy.
3. You give your consent online via www.ikgeeftoestemming.nl.

Your general practitioner and pharmacy make a note of your consent in your file. Then they report the most relevant data from your file to the LSP. Once that has been done, other physicians and pharmacies can look at these data. They are only permitted to do this if it is necessary for your treatment.

What if you do not give your consent? In that case other physicians and pharmacies cannot access your data via the LSP. Not even in emergency situations.

Good to know

You give your consent separately to your general practitioner and pharmacy.
You can ask your general practitioner and pharmacy to block certain data. This data will not be visible via the LSP.
At any moment, you can obtain an overview of who has accessed your data and when they did so. This overview also specifies which general practitioner and pharmacy released your information.
You can withdraw your consent at any time.

Who uses the LSP?

More and more healthcare providers work with the LSP. You can find out on www.vzvz.nl which healthcare providers use LSP.

Do you want to know more?

For example which care providers can access your data? Or what data this pertains to, exactly? Ask your general practitioner or pharmacy for the comprehensive brochure “Electronic Sharing of Your Medical Data? Only with Your Consent!”. You can also visit www.vzvz.nl or call the VZVZ Information Centre: (070) 317 34 56.

This is a brochure from

The Association of Healthcare Providers for Healthcare Communication (VZVZ) is responsible for the processing of data via the LSP. VZVZ makes sure that the LSP functions properly and is secure. It also provides support for healthcare providers when they use the LSP. www.vzvz.nl

The patient federation NPCF is an alliance of patients and consumer organisations. It works on behalf of everyone who needs healthcare, now and in the future. www.npcf.nl

Edition: October 2015

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Please use this official consent form to grant permission, for sharing medical information with the pharmacy and hospitals.

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