Viewpoints |
Patient organizations and prevention in the Netherlands
Iris van Bennekom-StompedisselNetherlands Patient and Consumer Federation P.O. Box 1539, 3500 BM Utrecht, The Netherlands
e-mail: ivanbennekom{at}npcf.nl
The paper ‘Patient Organizations and Public health by M. Naidtick’ highlights the importance of patients’ experiences and knowledge for health research and policy. The analysis also applies to developments in the Netherlands of the past 20 years, in which individual patients and consumers have founded hundreds of patients’ organizations. Some of these are organized around a specific disease or illness; others focus on broader issues related to the position of patients and consumers, like information and quality of care. In the early nineties the need was felt for an umbrella organization. The Netherlands Patient and Consumer Federation (NPCF) was founded in 1992 to represent common interests at a national level, creating one voice on subjects such as patients’ rights and access to care and public health programmes. The NPCF represents more than 3 million people: 3 million health care consumers. Jointly with its member organizations it promotes common interests towards influential parties in the field of healthcare, policy makers, healthcare providers, insurance companies as well as in the field of research. It develops and implements programmes to strengthen the position of the patient. Like other European countries, the Netherlands is confronted by a number of autonomous trends and developments that affect and challenge the health care system such as: increasingly demanding citizens, rising public expectations, an ageing population and rapid technological changes. Furthermore, the Netherlands is facing increasing pressures in terms of cost containment and financing, access to services and the quality and sustainability of health care.
A sustainable society calls for a sustainable health care system. Therefore, it is necessary to innovate the health care system based on the needs and demands of citizens. It is those needs that the NPCF tries to identify and promote. The main question is: do citizens receive the care that meets their needs and demands? In every ‘normal’ market it is said that the customer is always right. This means that he receives a good product that meets his needs, and that he is being serviced to his satisfaction. The NPCF works on a long-term strategy on the position of consumers, in order for them to become the so-called third party in our health care system, or better still, the first party in the long run!
This strategy does not only apply to the patients’ position in negotiating the cure and care packages of healthcare. The NPCF encourages investments in national preventive programmes and makes an appeal for including prevention in health insurance packages. It promotes patient participation in research and in the development of intervention strategies. Today, patient and consumer organizations are in a position to negotiate collective contracts with healthcare insurers not only to get a lower premium, but also to have preventive programmes included in the contracts.
The NPCF critically follows the political process and the health care research programmes from a patients perspective. Today, ‘the patient’ has become a respected and honoured participant in the political discussion and decision-making process in the Netherlands. This strong position can and will be used to promote improved treatment services as well as improved prevention services.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||