Computerized health information in The Netherlands: a registration network of family practices

A registration network of family practices (Registratienet Huisartspraktijken) has recently been established in the Netherlands. Forty two general practitioners in 15 practices, with a patient population of 80,000 people, are using a general practice health information system to establish a central computerized anonymous database containing certain patient characteristics and all relevant health problems. By September 1990 patient characteristics and problem lists for 32,972 patients had been entered and a total of 94,476 health problems had been identified. The database has been set up primarily as a sampling frame, allowing researchers to identify patients with particular health problems. The database can also provide descriptive data on prevalence and incidence rates, fulfil a monitoring function and provide data for practice audit, medical education and health management.