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Privacy (EN)
Privacy (EN)

Your file

In order to ensure good treatment, the party providing your healthcare needs to compile a file. This is also a statutory obligation. Your file contains comments on the state of your health and data on the examinations performed and treatment given.

The file also includes information necessary for the purposes of your treatment. The physician treating you will request this information from such parties as your family doctor or a medical specialist at another hospital.

The UMC Utrecht staff will do their best to safeguard your privacy. This means that:

  • we handle your personal and medical data with care
  • we do not provide unauthorized persons access to your data

The healthcare providers directly involved in your treatment have access to the data in your file that is necessary for the performance of their duties. These healthcare providers are bound by a legal duty of (professional) confidentiality.

The data from your file could be used for the following purposes:

  • To inform other healthcare providers within or outside of the UMC Utrecht. For example, in the case of a referral or after being discharged from hospital (when we inform your family doctor). This is done as standard, unless you expressly object.
  • Use for observational data or for peer review within the hospital.
  • A small proportion of the data from your file is used for the purposes of financial administration.
  • Furthermore, data from your file will be issued to other parties if this is required by law. The physician treating you must, for example, report an infectious disease to the director of the Municipal Health Service (GGD).

If your physician wishes to use data for a purpose other than specified above, then they will have to inform you of this and seek your consent.

Your consent is not required where data that cannot be traced to you is being used (anonymized data).

Privacy on the healthcare invoice

The healthcare invoice features detailed information on your healthcare. This information is also sent to your health insurer. If you would rather that were not the case, e.g. in the case of sensitive information you would rather keep private, then you can use the "privacy on the healthcare invoice" scheme.

Examinations and records

Data on a variety of diseases is amassed (record-keeping) at national level. The UMC Utrecht cooperates with efforts to this end. The aim of the records is to obtain more wide-ranging knowledge on specific diseases.

Research data on patients’ experiences of their treatment and on the outcomes of various treatments is processed anonymously. This means that this data is not subsequently linked to patient names. The data is collected so as to continuously improve patient treatment.

Rules on taking photos, filming and sound recordings

In order to protect the privacy of our patients and staff, there are rules in place on taking photos, filming and sound recordings. The rules below apply to patients and visitors.

  • You are allowed to take photos of and film yourself in the hospital, but no other patients or staff may be recognizable visually or audibly.
  • Please exercise restraint when taking photos of or filming others. If you wish to film somebody, please seek permission from that person first. Ensure that you also mention what you are intending to do with the photo or film.
  • If somebody is unable to give consent, then you may not take any photos of that person or film them. Neither are you allowed to take photos of or film children.
  • If you wish to share a photo or film on social media, for instance, please always ensure that no other people are visible in the background of your photo/film.
  • Many nursing wards feature an patient admission board containing the names of the patients on that ward. You are not allowed to take photos of or film this board.
  • The use of hidden cameras is not permitted in the UMC Utrecht.

Rules on the use of social media

Naturally, you are entitled to let people know what you think of the UMC Utrecht via social media. In fact, we encourage you to do so! However, there are a few rules with regard to posting photos or films that you have taken/recorded in the UMC Utrecht and the use of social media:

  • With due regard for the above rules for taking photos, filming and sound recordings, always seek the prior consent of the people you wish to photograph or film. Ensure that you also mention what you intend to do with the photo or film.
  • Be respectful if after posting a photo or a film a person asks you to remove it.
  • Be aware of the nature of social media. Once something is on the Internet, it is virtually impossible to ever fully delete it.
  • Do not do anything on social media that could potentially harm you, other patients or staff of the UMC Utrecht.