Radio Netherlands Worldwide reports:
The Dutch Senate has unanimously rejected Health Minister Edith Schippers’ plan to introduce the Electronic Patient Dossier (EPD) nationwide.
Under the scheme, people’s medical records would have been available to doctors and other health professionals throughout the country. However, the senators decided that the planned system’s security was not good enough and that patients’ privacy and rights were not adequately safeguarded.
The EPD has been planned by successive governments over the last 14 years and has so far cost 300 million euros. Official figures show nearly 60 percent of healthcare professionals such as family doctors and pharmacies have voluntarily joined the scheme, which already holds the medical records of nearly
8.55.8 million Dutch residents.
So what’s the security like on those 8.5 million residents’ records? I wonder if people will be concerned enough by the Senate’s action to ask that their files not be part of the scheme any more.
h/t @jterstegge
Corrected 12-23-11 to reflect 5.8 million. Thanks to a reader who sent me these links showing the correct number.