As I am writing this, the Indian Summer we have had for the last few weeks is definitely over. It is not yet cold, but there is non-stop rain. This is the true Dutch autumn. In this update we cover the following news from the Dutch healthcare sector:

• New international entrant in the Dutch dentistry sector. Will they be successful?
• Different agreements to reduce the use of temporary staff in the healthcare sector. Will they have an effect?
• Moving activities out of the hospital leads to less investments. Is this the model for the future of Dutch hospitals?
• In a new snapshot we give an overview of Arts en Zorg, a successful provider of commercial primary care services.

For those of you interested in the weather in the Netherlands I can report that even though it is October we are still enjoying an Indian Summer with mostly dry and warm days. In this update we cover the following news from the Dutch healthcare sector:

• Upcoming election in the Netherlands. What are the likely consequences for the healthcare sector?
• Digital healthcare. How to interpret mixed signals?
• Bergman Clinics and relationship with healthcare insurance companies. An update
• In a new snapshot we give an overview of Microsure, a start-up developing robots for microsurgery.

September is the month when everybody is back at school or back to work, and is the time when meetings that were not possible to plan before the summer can take place, and when there is energy to start up new projects. This also means that there is plenty of news to report, and in this update we cover the following news from the Dutch healthcare sector:

• Bergman Clinics refuses patients from two healthcare insurance companies. Is this the same situation as last year?
• Orpea sells real estate in the Netherlands. What is the story?
• Elderly care providers are being helped financially. Will there be further action?
• Buurtzorg makes a loss in 2022. What are the key reasons?

I was also last week honored to be interviewed by Het Financiele Dagblad (the leading Dutch financial newspaper) about cost management in the healthcare sector. If you are interested and can read Dutch you can find the article here.

I assume that everybody is now back from their (well deserved) summer holidays. We spent two weeks in Poland and had a great time. It is a beautiful country with some wonderful cities (Gdansk, Krakow, etc.) and a fascinating history. Travelling by train through Europe was very comfortable and I definitely see us doing something similar again.

It is a long time since the last update and even though many people have been on vacation, these is still news to report from the Dutch healthcare sector:

• Dutch healthcare sector facing fundamental financial challenges. Will the Government respond?
• Minister to start enquiry into role of private equity in the healthcare sector. What are possible consequences?
• Unilabs allowed to acquire Dutch laboratory company. Will consolidation in the diagnostics sector continue?
• Ceban and Brocacef trade activities. What is the reason for the deal?
• In a new snapshot we give an overview of Sirius Medical, a start-up focusing on cancer care

This will be the last update before our summer vacation. First stop will be Copenhagen for the wedding of a friend, and then we go on Poland. Our chosen travel modus takes me back in time. Last time was many, many years ago, but we will be going on Interrail and will be seeing Eastern Europe by train. The last few weeks have been very wet here in the Netherlands, so I hope that the weather improves.

Even though it is summer, there is still news to report from the Dutch healthcare sector. In this update we cover:

• Further reductions in the rights of patients and clients in the Netherlands. What effects can be expected for innovative new providers?
• Buurtzorg to enter commercial market for General Practitioners. Will they be more successful than key competitors?
• Elderly care operators expect to become structurally loss-making. Will the government step in?
• Finally some good news –absence from work due to illness in the healthcare sector declining. Will it continue?

Some of you are probably already on vacation, but some of us have to continue working in the nice summer weather. I hope you are enjoying your holidays and that those of us who have to wait can look forward to the coming vacations. Even though it is summer, there is still news to report from the Dutch healthcare sector. In this update we cover:

• 2022 a better financial year for hospitals than expected. What were the reasons?
• The right of elderly care clients for intramural care to be reduced. How does this fit in overall process of redefining Dutch elderly care?
• M&A in the healthcare IT sector. Will there be further consolidation in the sector?
• In a new snapshot we give an overview of Calculus, a healthcare IT company currently in the news

Some of you are probably already on vacation, but some of us have to continue working in the nice summer weather. I hope you are enjoying your holidays and that those of us who have to wait can look forward to the coming vacations. Even though it is summer, there is still news to report from the Dutch healthcare sector. In this update we cover:

• Mixed news concerning the development of new senior living / nursing home capacity. Will the ambitious targets be met?
• Dutch Competition Authority (ACM) will not hinder increased cooperation in the healthcare sector. Good news for the roll-out of IZA and WOZO?
• Government report recommend that self-pay by elderly care clients is increased. Is this good news for commercial operators?
• In a new snapshot we give an overview of Cooperative Boer en Zorg, an interesting concept for healthcare provision by farmers

It was great meeting many of you last week at the HBI conference in London. Lots of very interesting talks and discussions, and good opportunities to talk informally. A “welcome” to my new contacts who have agreed to be put on my mailing list. I hope that you find my bi-weekly updates on the Dutch healthcare sector interesting and useful. In this update we cover:

• Bad news / good news concerning hospital consolidation. What will be the next steps?
• Extra salary for elderly care staff. When will other sectors follow?
• More loss-making organizations in the disabled care sector. Will tariffs be increased?
• In a new snapshot we give an overview of Mauritskliniek, a group of specialized clinics

As I am writing this we are enjoying another beautiful summer day her in the Netherlands. I hope that you are also able to enjoy the summer weather. There is, of course, news to be covered related to the Dutch healthcare sector. In this update we cover:

• Further consolidation in the diagnostics sector. Who will be next?
• Large traditional Dutch healthcare conglomerate to (finally) be split up. What has taken so long?
• New large acquisition in the veterinary sector. Will the sector follow the same process as dentistry?
• Private equity important player in healthcare related M&A. Will the boom in M&A continue?

I am back from a ten-day holiday in Norway. The original plan was to spend some of the days walking in the mountains from cabin to cabin, but this had to be changed due to the massive amounts of snow still remaining in the mountains – spring comes late to Norway. Luckily, we were able to celebrate the Norwegian national day (17 May with lots of people in traditional clothes (bunad) intense flag-waving) and visit family.

There is, of course, news to be described related to the Dutch healthcare sector. In this update we cover:

• Another defeat for ACM (Dutch Competition Authority). What are consequences for their activist approach?
• Another acquisition by Unilabs. Is the diagnostics sector consolidating?
• Tariffs for elderly care to be reduced by 3%. What are the consequences for the sector?
• In a new snapshot we give an overview of Yes We Can Clinics, a provider of mental healthcare to youth

I hope that you are doing well and are enjoying the many free days (especially in the UK) and beautiful weather in May. This time, no update on news from the overall Dutch healthcare sector (although there is a fair amount of news to be highlighted), but rather a focused update on the Dutch commercial nursing home sector.

As some of you may remember I had an accident in 2018 and was limited in my movements. I used my downtime at home to develop a bottom-up overview of the Dutch commercial nursing home sector. After my 2018 overview a lot changed in the sector, and in 2021 I revisited my analysis, but with a focus on the large national chains. Given some downtime last week between projects I decided to develop a new overview of the current situation of the sector and give an overview of the developments we have seen since 2018.

I hope that you are doing well. As I am writing this, we are having our share of April showers and are getting ready for “King’s Day” on Thursday. “King’s Day” is officially a celebration of the King’s birthday but is actually an opportunity for the Dutch to put on every bit of orange clothing they have and turn the whole country into one giant garage sale. As always there is news to report from the Dutch healthcare sector:

• Actief Zorg seeks bankruptcy protection. Consequence of too many acquisitions?
• Golden times for temporary staffing companies in the healthcare sector. Will this continue?
• Primary care chains – status and future
• In a new snapshot we give an overview of Attenza, a provider of palliative homecare

I hope that you have enjoyed a nice Easter break and have had reasonable weather. Here in the Netherlands, one of the “attractions” of spring is that we get four seasons in one day. Relatively quiet on the healthcare front in combination with Easter, but as always, there is always news to report:

• Judge reverses ACM decision on Mediq’s acquisition of Eurocept Homecare. Will they try again?
• The Minister of Healthcare announces measures to improve healthcare IT. Will his ideas work?
• Overview of promising Dutch healthcare start-up: Screenpoint Medical, a specialist in breast imaging and machine learning

I am a realistic optimist. Spring will certainly come again, so I decided to make limoncello in the weekend. It will take four weeks to get ready, so luckily, spring still has some time to get itself organized. In this update we cover:

• A victory for fringe political party in senate elections. What will be the consequences for the Dutch healthcare sector?
• Youth care providers in financial problems. What is needed from the government?
• Elderly care provider refuses to build more capacity. Realism or exaggerated caution?
• Overview of promising Dutch healthcare start-up: Castor, a developer of more efficient data collection processes for clinical trials

A few weeks back it seemed like spring was in the air, and I have even seen ducklings in the park. Now winter is back with cold weather and snow, hopefully for the last time before spring really comes out of hiding. In this update we cover:

• High level of M&A activity in the Dutch market in 2022, but focus is on pharma and MedTech. When will consolidation take place in the elderly care sector?
• Dutch data analytics company acquired by American private equity investor. Who will be next?
• IZA program is not making initial deadlines. Will it be possible to keep it on track?
• Overview of promising Dutch healthcare start-up: Pacmed, a developer of AI decision support systems for hospitals