For most self-employed psychiatrists working in a private practice, safeguarding your privacy is a top priority. In recent years, privacy within mental healthcare has been a topic of considerable attention. At its core, the discussion centres on the exchange of information between the government and healthcare providers, specifically concerning your personal details and the nature of your care and treatment. To learn more, please visit the following website: https://vertrouwenindeggz.nl/.

Your self-employed psychiatrist is a medical specialist (doctor). All doctors are bound by medical confidentiality, meaning they are obligated to keep everything they learn about a patient during their work strictly confidential. You can read more about this here: https://www.avghelpdeskzorg.nl/onderwerpen/medisch-beroepsgeheim. This page also explains some exceptions to medical confidentiality.

Although there are strict rules regarding medical confidentiality, there are also regulations requiring doctors to submit data about the care they provide. For 2025, these requirements are outlined in the 'Regulation on Mental Healthcare and Forensic Care - NR/REG-2508', with a new version published each year. Chapter 4 of this regulation lists the information submission requirements for healthcare providers. A tension exists between medical confidentiality and mandatory data submission, as these obligations can partially infringe on confidentiality. A key issue with mandatory data submission is that patients are not asked for their consent before their data is shared.

The previously mentioned tension between medical confidentiality and mandatory data submission can be partially addressed by drafting a privacy statement. In this document, patients can indicate that they do not wish for treatment-related or sensitive personal information to be shared with health insurers or the Dutch Healthcare Authority. However, the obligation to submit general treatment data remains in place, even when a privacy statement has been completed. Such data is required for purposes such as processing healthcare invoices and reimbursement.
Every self-employed psychiatrist can assist you in drafting a privacy statement, and you will typically be informed about this at the start of your treatment. If, for any reason, this topic has not yet been discussed, you are encouraged to bring it up with your psychiatrist.