Coop private-hospital

Dermatology is a medical field that is often plagued by fragmented care and ineffective referral. During the 2024 EADV congress, Dr Menno Gaastra explained how he sees a closer collaboration between private clinics and academic hospitals as a path towards a more optimal care for dermatology patients. Dr Gaastra is the owner of the Centrum Oosterwal, a large private dermatology clinic with several locations throughout the Northwestern part of The Netherlands. 

In an attempt to streamline the care for dermatology patients in that part of country, Centrum Oosterwal set up a joint venture with the Northwest hospital group. Through this agreement, dermatology patients that require second line care are first referred to the Centrum Oosterwal where the lion’s share of the second-line dermatology care is offered. Only if more specialized care is required the patient is referred to the hospital. This way of working alleviated the excessive workload in the dermatology departments within the Northwest hospital group and made it easier for patients to get an appointment within a reasonable timeframe. While hospitals are generally willing to shed off second-line care, this second-line care is often required to safeguard hospital finances. Given the fact that the dermatology care pathway as described by Dr Gaastra is organized within the framework of a joint venture, the hospital is still retaining some of the financial benefits.

More recently, Centrum Oosterwal engaged in a second joint venture together with the Amsterdam University Medical Center (UMC). In a similar way as described above, the ‘Huid Medisch Centrum’ was set up to provide second-line dermatology care to patients in the wider Amsterdam area. This center functions as a gatekeeper to prevent the referral of ‘easier’ dermatology cases to the Amsterdam UMC and invests in the training of new dermatologists. In addition, having a dedicated second-line center for dermatology also makes it clearer for general practitioners where they should refer their patients with dermatological problems.  Finally, treating a patient in such a second-line center is also much cheaper than treating that patient in an academic hospital. As such, dermatology joint ventures as the ones set up by Dr Gaastra also have important financial benefits for the government.