#020 Making healthcare more efficient and supportive via digital means, with Joep De Groot from CZ

On this latest episode, we were joined by Joep De Groot, chair of the board at health insurer CZ in the Netherlands.

Joep is very much aware of the limitations of traditional healthcare, especially from a patient perspective. He discerns two major issues:

• Healthcare can be woefully inefficient at times. A common root cause in this case, is the immobility of data. Joep recalls speaking to a diabetes patient, who had to stand in line at the hospital for bloodwork a few times a year as a result of that, when a local clinic could have done the job just as well.
• Healthcare in its current state often fails to properly support patients throughout their journey, both from an educational as well as a psychological standpoint. As soon as people leave the hospital or GP practice, it feels like they're on their own again. Accessibility remains to be an issue for people as well. Joep believes digitalization is the way to go.

Joep has been working on pushing the envelope himself, with the release of multiple applications for the Just ecosystem, a digital-first health insurer by CZ. With several dedicated apps for coaching, physiotherapy and primary care, Just aims to bridge healthcare and insurance altogether.