Privacy statement LUMC

What kind of personal data does LUMC process and why?

LUMC processes your data for proper (medical) care. This includes information about your health condition, examination results, diagnosis and treatment plans. These data are stored in your medical file to carry out your treatment agreement. LUMC is also legally obliged to identify you. This ensures us that we do not confuse you with another patient. Besides your medical data, LUMC therefore also needs other personal data. Such as your citizen service number, name, address and date of birth.

Other purposes for which LUMC processes your personal data include the organisation of care (such as scheduling) and handling of administrative aspects of the care you have received (such as billing).

In addition, LUMC processes personal data to ensure the safety of people and property. This includes camera surveillance using fixed cameras and bodycams worn by the Security staff.

Are you acting as a contact person or legal representative of a patient? We will record your name, your relationship to the patient and your phone number in the medical file of the patient that you represent or are the person of contact for. This way, we are able to contact you about the patient if needed. For instance, to inform you that the operation was successful.

Will my data be shared with others?

In some situations, LUMC is legally obliged to share your personal data with others. For instance, when we send an invoice to your healthcare insurance. When your general practitioner has referred you to LUMC, we will share important findings with him or her. In that case LUMC assumes you have given your consent. However, you can let your treating physician know if you object to this.

As a hospital we are also legally obliged to monitor the quality of our care. To this end, LUMC may send data on the course of your treatment to national quality registries. Your name and contact details will be omitted. You can object to sharing your personal data for this purpose by telling your treating physician.

LUMC is also legally obliged to report certain infectious diseases to the local healthcare service, the so called Gemeentelijke Gezondheidsdienst (GGD). In addition, LUMC shares information about certain infectious diseases and resistance to antibiotics with RIVM, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.

In other cases you decide whether LUMC may share your data and whether or not you give your consent. Objection will not affect your treatment. Sometimes, in emergencies or emergency situations, it will not be possible to ask for your consent. In these situations LUMC will decide for you. Your health is always our main concern.

How long does LUMC retain my personal data?

LUMC retains your medical data for at least 20 years after your treatment. Important data for (improving) your treatment may be kept longer. As a university hospital, LUMC must keep certain data from your medical file for 115 years. This period starts from your date of birth. This includes your discharge letter (Dutch only) to patient leaflets/discharge letter, on the current website this information: Your discharge | LUMC], surgery report, anaesthesia report, results of pathological examination and the first aid report.

How can I access my data?

  Your medical data at LUMC are processed in an electronic patient file. This contains, for example, an overview of your treatments and medical data. Through the patient portal myLUMC you can access the most important data. In addition, you have a right to ask for a copy of your medical file (Dutch only).

Will my data be used for scientific research?

As a scientific hospital, LUMC does not only have a task in treating patients, but also in scientific research. Because of this, your medical data may be used for scientific research. For example, to improve the treatment you received. If you are eligible to participate in scientific research, you will be thoroughly informed about this by your treating physician, and your consent will be requested. In some cases however, we may use your personal data without your explicit consent when certain requirements are met. In these cases we use data and/or material that has been collected during your treatment. You may object to this by informing your treating physician or the department of the hospital where you are treated that you don't your data to be used for scientific research.

Read more about the use of your personal data for medical scientific research (Dutch only)

Objecting to the use of your medical data for research

Do you object to the use of your medical data for scientific research? If so, please inform your treating physician or the department where your treatment takes place. They will register your objection in your medical file and your data will not be used for scientific research.