Healthcare Updates | January 2026

* Please note that some of the referenced sources are available only in Dutch.

1. Key takeaways and impressions from the ICTHealth World Conference 2026

On 29 January, we attended the ICT&Health World Conference in Maastricht. This conference is recognised as one of Europe’s most influential healthcare and technology events. Innovators, healthcare professionals and policymakers from the Netherlands and abroad came together to share knowledge, insights and innovations.

Two themes took centre stage: the use of AI in healthcare and the European Health Data Space (EHDS). This focus is unsurprising. The development and deployment of AI in healthcare are advancing at pace. Across the exhibition floor, numerous developers of healthcare applications demonstrated how they use AI with one clear objective: to relieve healthcare professionals by automating repetitive and administrative tasks.

Several speakers highlighted that healthcare professionals spend on average around 40 percent of their working time on administrative duties. Any reduction in this percentage translates directly into more time for their core responsibility: providing care to patients.

The second major theme was the European Health Data Space. This new European regulation aims to improve healthcare and facilitate the secondary use of health data for research and innovation, while giving citizens greater control over their data. During the conference, it became clear that many healthcare organisations are currently looking for practical guidance on how to prepare for the EHDS. Notably, speakers were often unable to provide concrete answers to questions arising from daily healthcare practice. Many elements of the EHDS will require further clarification in the coming years, both at European and national level. One conclusion was unmistakable: organisations that process health data face significant work in the period ahead.

2. Healthcare providers take note: prepare now for supervision by the Dutch DPA

In the coming months, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, AP) will carry out sample-based inspections among healthcare providers, focusing on data security and the proper handling of personal data. This includes access control to patient data, logging, data breaches, privacy awareness and compliance with NEN standards.

In our recent blog we take a closer look at what these inspections mean in practice for healthcare providers and how they can prepare for them.

This intensified supervision fits within the broader strategy of the AP as set out in its 2026 Annual Plan. In this plan, the AP states that in the coming years it will focus strategically on digital resilience and the use of AI. Attention will be paid in particular to data exchange and cooperation. In this context, the AP will primarily focus on large-scale systems with major societal impact. For the healthcare sector, this likely means that supervision will become less incident-driven and more focused on structural patterns. The AP also announces closer cooperation with the Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate (Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd, IGJ) in its annual plan.

3. Minister of Health updates parliament on progress in health data exchange

The Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) has recently informed the House of Representatives about the latest developments in data availability in healthcare and the implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). In two letters, he explains how the EHDS, which entered into force on 26 March 2025, is shaping the direction for sharing and reusing health data.

The Minister discusses governance issues surrounding the Digital Health Authority (Autoriteit Digitale Gezondheid, ADG) and the Health Data Access Body (HDAB), as well as possible models for supervision, including the option of establishing a new independent administrative authority. He also describes the implications of the EHDS for the Dutch Act on Electronic Data Exchange in Healthcare (Wegiz) and the legislation required to implement the EHDS in the Netherlands. The letters make it clear that the EHDS is temporarily slowing down national progress on data availability. Ongoing Wegiz projects and the development of generic functions must be reassessed in light of their alignment with European law. One example is the difference in conformity assessment under the EHDS and the Wegiz, which means that for certain data exchanges no implementing decrees (AMvBs) can currently be initiated.

At the same time, the Minister emphasises that in the longer term the EHDS provides a solid foundation for structural data availability. Implementation will take place in phases with full effect expected between 2029 and 2031. In a separate in-depth blog, we further analyse the parliamentary letters and their impact on healthcare providers and suppliers.

4. New cabinet focuses on prevention and sovereign infrastructure

In the new coalition agreement, the cabinet chooses a shift from care to health under the healthcare theme, by investing more in prevention and wellbeing. There remains room for new medical technologies and treatments, but the cabinet intends to apply stricter assessments of proven effectiveness and contribution to appropriate care. Supervisory authorities will also be given broader powers, for example to temporarily halt acquisitions or take action against opaque corporate structures.

Digital care, data exchange and data-driven cooperation are expected to contribute to appropriate care and a reduction in administrative burdens. These developments are to be supported by a nationwide infrastructure for data exchange between healthcare providers and, where possible, the social domain.

At the same time, the cabinet sets clear conditions for digitalisation, with a strong emphasis on security, digital autonomy and reducing strategic dependencies. For government, an autonomous European digital infrastructure is the guiding principle. In addition, a Dutch Digital Service will be established within government to support digitalisation across central government and to safeguard quality standards.

The coming period will show how these intentions will be translated into concrete obligations and supervision. We will continue to closely monitor these developments and share relevant updates, including those that are of direct importance to healthcare practice.

5. What the IGJ will focus on in 2026 and administrative fines to be made public

In December 2025, the IGJ published its Work Plan 2026. In this plan, the IGJ emphasises that supervision should more closely align with the transition towards appropriate care and regional cooperation. The IGJ will also participate in a support programme aimed at improving supervision under the Social Support Act (Wmo), particularly with regard to strengthening cooperation between the IGJ and Wmo supervisory authorities.

The IGJ’s annual theme for 2026 is the use of technological innovations. Digital applications can relieve pressure on healthcare professionals, improve access to care and reduce demand for care, but they also entail risks if they do not align properly with patients’ needs. The IGJ underlines that the use of technology is not only about opportunities, but also about responsible application, including sufficient digital literacy among users and attention to clinical relevance. Healthcare providers must therefore be able to demonstrate how technological applications such as AI, video consultations and data exchange are implemented, how risks are assessed and how these tools are used in practice.

In addition, the IGJ has announced that it will publish administrative fines from 1 January 2026 onwards. These fines may be imposed on healthcare providers, manufacturers and other parties for breaches of laws, regulations and professional standards. Specifically, at a minimum, the name of the party concerned, the reason for the fine, and the amount of the fine will be made public. By making fine decisions public, the IGJ aims to provide greater insight into the standards it applies in supervision and enforcement, which can help healthcare providers further strengthen their policies and internal controls.

6. Major AI players already visible in US healthcare: “The Wild West is looming”

In January 2026, both OpenAI and Anthropic made a more explicit entry into the healthcare sector. With ChatGPT Health and Claude for Healthcare, these companies demonstrate that healthcare has become a key target for further scaling of generative AI. Although these applications are not yet active on the Dutch healthcare market, they do illustrate the direction in which the field is moving and how quickly generative AI can develop into a structural application.

ChatGPT Health is intended as a supportive tool to help users prepare more effectively for conversations with healthcare professionals. Within a strictly defined and secure environment, medical records and wellness apps can be linked with explicit consent. ChatGPT Health is not designed to provide diagnoses or perform treatments, and according to OpenAI, conversations are not used for further training of AI models. Claude for Healthcare, by contrast, focuses on the system side of healthcare and is positioned as a professional integration layer for processing and connecting large volumes of healthcare data and clinical processes.

These developments make the recent warning and vision of the AP on generative AI all the more relevant. The AP warns that without clear public values and legal frameworks, there is a risk of a “wild west” scenario in which the development and deployment of generative AI become concentrated among a small number of dominant providers. This may lead to vendor lock-in and reduced control over essential infrastructure and decision-making. The AP therefore advocates a course of putting values to work, leaving room for innovation while explicitly safeguarding democracy, fundamental rights and mutual trust. The AP calls on organisations using generative AI to be transparent about its use, to be mindful of risks and to respect fundamental rights. Against this background, investing in internal expertise is becoming increasingly important for organisations.

If you are looking for practical training, for example as a Certified Health Compliance Officer, CAICO^® or CAILI^®, take a look at our training programmes.