Netherlands

In October 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. The implemented changes included a Digital Care Helpdesk, reimbursement for "Technical variant" of care, "Collaborative advice" for specialists, and examples of joint Information and Communication Technology (ICT) procurement.

In September 2025, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) awarded eighteen projects under the first round of the Medical Specialist Care and Research program concerning e-health, endocrinology, gastroenterology, and interventional radiology areas.

In August 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) published the report called “Assessment Framework for Feasibility of Care”. It explains how ZIN determines and assesses the feasibility of interventions when deciding on coverage within the basic health insurance.

In August 2025, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) awarded seventeen projects under the subsidy round “Preparatory implementation activities Round 1” of the Appropriate Care Framework program. Awarded projects include e-health, men’s health, in-vitro diagnostic, and other fields.

In July 2025, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) awarded twelve projects under the 2026 round of the Efficiency Research program concerning e-health, diagnostic imaging, gastrointestinal, endoscopy, orthopedics, gynecology, pulmonology, and cardiology fields.

In July 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) announced a new policy framework “Reimbursement within Research” (Vergoeding in Onderzoek), which allows temporary reimbursement under basic health insurance during the evaluation period for specialist medical care and medical devices with limited evidence of effectiveness. ZIN is currently reviewing the framework to provide advice on implementation. The launch of the new framework is expected in November 2025.

In the first and second quarters of 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) published three coverage positions concerning the ENT, gastrointestinal, and in-vitro diagnostic fields. Two of the three decisions (Internal nasal valve correction for airway blockage and molecular diagnostics of the NTRK gene fusion in cancer patients) received favorable recommendations for coverage under basic health insurance.

In May 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) published the Advice on considering staff deployment and sustainability criteria when assessing whether to reimburse medical procedures and technologies from basic health insurance. Since May 2025, ZIN has initiated a three-year trial to incorporate these criteria into the assessment process, with an interim evaluation after 1.5 years to be discussed with the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport.

In May 2025, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) opened the submission of grant applications for the subsidy round of the Appropriate Care Framework program (2024–2028), which focuses on (de)implementation activities for medical technologies reimbursed under basic health insurance. The deadline for submitting a detailed grant application is July 3, 2025.

In May 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) published the Trendwatch Report on Healthcare Innovations in Specialist Medical Care, identifying 316 MedTech innovations across 11 clusters, with AI-driven diagnostics, predictive models, and image-guided therapy predicted to have the highest impact in the medical specialist care, while also highlighting significant risks associated with assistive robotics and wearable monitoring technologies for inclusion in basic health insurance.

In May 2025, the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport provided further details on terminating "Subsidy Scheme for Promising Care". The program will be discontinued as of January 1, 2026, without any follow-up measures or financing. No new rounds for submission of proposals will be available. Nothing will change for the 28 ongoing projects and projects expected to be awarded later in 2025 as a result of the last completed rounds.