A PGO is your own environment
PGO stands for persoonlijke gezondheidsomgeving, or personal health environment. It is an app or website you choose yourself. You can retrieve copies of health information from several providers, add your own information and - where supported - share information. The original records remain with your GP, hospital, pharmacy or other provider.
PGO
Chosen by you. It can collect information from several connected providers and remains available when you change provider.
Patient portal
Offered by one healthcare organisation. It mainly shows that organisation’s records and services, such as appointments, messages or video consultations.
A patient portal starts from one organisation. A PGO is designed to start from you.
What can and cannot a PGO do?
Often possible
Not automatic
Availability varies by care sector, provider and connection. Even a connected provider may exchange only part of its records. Features also differ between PGOs.
How do you retrieve records?
Check your provider
Find out whether your provider can connect to a PGO through MedMij.
Choose a PGO
Compare supported data services, features, accessibility and support.
Create an account
Follow the provider’s registration process and secure your access.
Retrieve data
Select the provider, identify yourself with the DigiD app and authorise the exchange.
Search for the healthcare organisation rather than only the clinician. Check whether both the PGO and provider connection support the right data service. A fault can lie with the PGO, the provider’s system or the connection.
Which PGO should you choose?
There is no single best PGO. Start with the providers and types of records you want to connect, then check:
Coverage
Does it support the relevant data services for your GP, hospital, mental healthcare provider or other provider?
Use
Does it offer the documents, self-recorded measurements, authorisation or accessibility features you need?
Trust
Does it have a valid MedMij label, and are privacy, support and account closure explained clearly?
Using a PGO and retrieving medical data is free. A provider may charge for additional features. Compare current options at PGO.nl.
Security, privacy and the MedMij label
A PGO with the MedMij label retrieves and exchanges information under national agreements covering technology, information security, privacy and participants. You identify yourself with the DigiD app and an ID check. Your health insurer cannot simply view your PGO, and a MedMij participant may not sell your data.
The label does not replace your own choices. You decide whom to authorise and what to share. Protect your device and credentials, and read the privacy terms of your chosen PGO.
MedMij is not a PGO
MedMij provides the rules and network for secure exchange. The PGO provider makes the app or website. Read the separate MedMij explanation.
Does a PGO contain your complete medical record?
Not automatically. A PGO collects copies of information that a provider makes available through supported data services. Older records, free-text notes, images or information from an unsupported sector may be absent.
If you need to see what a provider actually holds, or need a complete copy, request access or a copy directly from that provider. Learn how to request your medical records.
The Zorgfuik perspective: data is not coordination
A PGO can make fragmented information more visible. It does not create a shared care plan, resolve conflicting conclusions or decide who must take the next step.
A PGO strengthens your information position. It must not become a way to shift responsibility for coherence back to the patient. Complex care still needs a recognisable contact with overview and authority to act.