Health care
The health care practice at Kennedy Van der Laan, like the
technology practice, brings together diverse legal expertise and
market understanding to serve our clients operating in this
socially extremely important sector of society. The health care
practice van Kennedy Van der Laan includes clients from many parts
of the health care sector and involves questions in all areas of
law affecting health care - from advising the Management Board of a
hospital about instituting a client council to representing medical
specialists in disciplinary procedures. Liability for medical
errors, employment matters, personal data privacy issues involved
in the exchange of medical information, and the relationship
between specialists and the health care institution are only some
of the many issues addressed.
The needs of this group of clients are broad and are increasing
as the government regulation of the health care sector in The
Netherlands is going through major changes. Recently the method of
providing for health care insurance was drastically changed from a
broad base of public insurance for lower-income families to
individual, family and group insurance for all income levels. Soon
a new regulatory body for the health care sector will come into
being and will implement legislation aimed at creating a more
commercial and competitive health care sector.
Our health care practice addresses the new regulatory
environment, including the application of competition/anti-trust
regulations to the sector, and new public procurement requirements.
It also addresses the employment issues, including the relationship
between health care institutions and individual specialist doctors,
the insurance and claims issues, and potential professional
disciplinary actions and criminal liability. The new regulatory
climate for health care institutions is leading to mergers and
acquisitions and joint ventures and other forms of cooperation
among health care providers, as well as the establishment of an
increasing number of private health care clinics. Kennedy Van der
Laan's corporate transactional group is focused on these
developments.