The 2026 version of the Digital Care Funding Guide was released in the Netherlands

On October 2, 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) published the updated version of the 2026 Guide, which describes the possibilities of funding digital care depending on the healthcare sector (primary care, medical specialist care, long-term care, etc.). 

The implemented changes include the creation of a Digital Care Helpdesk to assist patients with low digital skills, the introduction of reimbursement of "technical variant" for proven digital versions of non-digital healthcare, the addition of "Collaborative Advice" for specialists to digitally advise general practitioners (GPs) starting in 2026, and the provision of real-world examples of joint Information and Communication Technology (ICT) procurement by care providers.

In the 2026 version of the Digital Care Funding Guide, the term “digital care” was defined as a wide range of digital care applications in various sectors and domains of healthcare. Four categories of digital care are provided in line with the definition of the Dutch Healthcare Institute:

• Digital diagnostics and prognostics;
• Digital treatment and support (also called digital therapeutics);
• Digital control and monitoring (also called telemonitoring, home monitoring, and remote patient monitoring);
• Digital prevention at the patient level (i.e., indicated or care-related prevention).

The key changes in the medical specialist care were introduced in the guide:

• A reimbursement for "Technical variant", allowing proven digital versions of existing non-digital healthcare to be reimbursed under basic health insurance. The “Technical variant” is an existing non-digital care that is offered digitally. It remains insured care if its composition and effectiveness do not significantly change compared to the original care. Existing evidence of effectiveness may be sufficient for this, and therefore, little or no additional evidence is required;
• On January 1, 2026, a new option in medical specialist care will be introduced—a new "Collaborative advice" (Meedenkadvies), which allows specialists to advise GPs digitally to prevent unnecessary referrals.

See more information in Dutch here.

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