With regard to referring patients to specialist care by the general practitioner, we would like to draw your attention to the following:
- A referral to a specialist is made by the general practitioner in consultation with the patient.
- A specialist consultation is deducted from the 'own risk' of the patient.
The general practitioner does not refer afterwards.
With some regularity it happens that patients make an appointment with a specialist for non-urgent matters of their own accord and ask for a referral from the general practicioner afterwards. The general practicioner is then not authorized to write a referral. If he does, it can be a criminal offense.The general practitioner has the statutory task of being a gatekeeper for hospital care. This means that the general practitioner, in consultation with the patient, refers to a specialist if there is an indication for this.
The health care in the Netherlands is precious in two ways: valuable and expensive. To keep the health care available for a long time, the general practitioner has the task of providing general practitioner care where possible and to refer to expensive specialist care if necessary. Only specialist care by referral from a general practitioner is reimbursed by the health care insurer.
Specialists are not allowed to provide care or claim reimbursement from the health care insurer if there is no referral from the general practitioner. If they do, it is for their own account or for that of the patient. For objections against this regulation you can contact your health care insurer.
Because not everyone is aware of this regulation and to avoid disappointment, we want to inform you that your general practitioner is not allowed to refer you afterwards and therefore will not do this.