How well does the healthcare system in the Netherlands perform? How accessible is health care in the Netherlands? What are the short- and long-term costs? How does the Dutch healthcare system compare with systems in other European countries? These topics and more are investigated by healthcare researchers at RIVM.

Healthcare supply
How many hospitals are there in the Netherlands; how many general practitioners and how many nursing homes? How well prepared are healthcare services for the future? These and other questions are answered in the National Atlas of Public Health and Health Care (in Dutch only), a document putting all health care services on the map.

Performance of the healthcare system
How well does the Dutch healthcare system perform? This is a largely a matter for RIVM researchers investigating the quality, accessibility and cost of the healthcare system. Findings will be presented in Zorgbalans, a Dutch-language report on healthcare performance, to be published every two years, starting in 2006.

Use of healthcare services
How often do the Dutch visit a general practitioner?  What are the most prescribed pharmaceuticals? How much time do patients spend in hospitals and how often are patients re-admitted? What services are available for the handicapped and for mental health care? Again, these are all questions that may be answered in the National Atlas for Public Health and Health Care (in Dutch only), while the National Compass for Public Health and Health Care (in Dutch only) provides information on specific groups.

Cost of health care
How much money is spent on health care? What are the costs of medicines and pharmaceuticals, hospitals and nursing homes, and of services offered by general practitioners? How are costs of health care related to age groups in the population? What are the most ‘costly’ diseases? See Cost-of-Illness for all queries on costs.