Abstract

The Dutch healthcare system is under pressure, among other things due to population ageing, staff shortages and high costs. Changes are necessary to continue to provide everyone with effective healthcare. Digital healthcare could help with this. Every year since 2021, surveys have been conducted on how often healthcare users and providers use digital healthcare, and what their experiences are. This provides insight into the use, possibilities and experienced effects of digital healthcare on factors such as work pressure and the quality of care.

In 2025, the use of most digital applications among healthcare providers was approximately as high as in the previous year, but some applications became slightly more popular. For instance, more GPs and doctors working in hospitals made use of video calls (from around 60 per cent in 2024 to around 80 per cent in 2025). Also, more doctors used AI, among other things to look up medical information and to assist with administration (such as by using dictation software to write reports).

Healthcare users made increased use of a number of digital applications, such as a digital self-help treatment for mental health issues. Other digital applications have already been used to the same extent for years. An example is the personal health environment (PGO), in which people can find or add the medical data of different care providers.

Significant differences can be observed between people of different ages and with different types of education. Older people and people whose highest level of education is primary education or prevocational secondary education are less likely to use digital care. Depending on the application, 20 to 45 per cent of people in this group use digital care less frequently than people with a higher professional or university degree. These differences have remained stable over the years. It is important, however, to address them if we want to enable as many people as possible to use digital care.

Moreover, it is important to develop a better understanding into what determines whether people consider digital healthcare to be a positive development. Care providers consider it positive that this allows care users to manage more things independently. In general, both care providers and care users are neutral or moderately positive about the question of whether digital care will help to reduce the costs of care. Younger, more digitally literate care providers tend to be more enthusiastic about digital care.