Netherlands

Since March 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) has been establishing new standards for vascular surgery and cancer treatment, resulting in the centralization of complex interventions only in hospitals that consistently demonstrate a high volume of such procedures. In November 2025, the seven regions agreed on which hospitals would provide complex cancer and vascular procedures starting in 2026, with a one-year transition period before the new care distribution began on January 1, 2027.

In October 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) published the plan for implementing the program, “Reimbursement within Research,” which allows temporary reimbursement under basic health insurance during the research period for existing medical specialist care and medical devices with limited evidence of effectiveness. The Minister of Health, Welfare, and Sport will consider the ZIN implementation plan and decide whether to initiate the program. If the decision is positive, the program's launch is expected in the fourth quarter of 2025.

In September-October 2025, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) opened the submission of applications for another two rounds of the Medical Specialist Care and Research (MedZO) program. The applications deadline for “Line 1: Appropriate and efficient care - Round 2” is December 2, 2025; for “Preparatory implementation activities Round 2 - specialist medical care” - December 9, 2025.

As of October 2025, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) is working on coverage positions in several areas, including otorhinolaryngology, neurology, dental surgery, cardiovascular, and oncology fields.

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.