Zorgdata

Zorgdata is a term encountered in Dutch-speaking health systems and health informatics to denote data produced by or about health care services and health status. It encompasses clinical data from patient encounters, administrative data such as billing and scheduling, and aggregate datasets used for research and policy analysis. In practice, zorgdata may be drawn from electronic health records, laboratory information systems, imaging repositories, pharmacy systems, disease registries, and public health surveillance.

The data types include structured and unstructured clinical notes, diagnostic and procedure codes (for example ICD-10 or SNOMED CT), laboratory test results (LOINC), imaging metadata (DICOM), medication records, and patient-reported outcomes. Interoperability efforts seek to standardize data formats and terminologies to enable sharing across clinics, hospitals, insurers, and public agencies. Common standards and frameworks used in European contexts include HL7 FHIR, SNOMED CT, ICD-10, LOINC, and DICOM.

Governance of zorgdata centers on privacy, security, and ethical use. Compliance with data protection laws such as the GDPR, patient consent where required, data minimization, access controls, and audit trails are typical requirements. Anonymization and pseudonymization are often employed for secondary uses such as research and quality improvement, with data use agreements governing access and purpose.

Applications of zorgdata include clinical decision support, population health surveillance, outcome research, health service planning, and performance measurement. Challenges include data quality and completeness, fragmentation between care providers, privacy considerations, and the need for robust governance and technical infrastructure.