Key points
- Amsterdam had 941,873 residents at the start of 2026, and newcomers in 2025 came mainly from the United States, Italy, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, India and Turkey.1
- The city counted 14,564 health and welfare establishments in 2023, almost double the number ten years earlier, and 68% were sole practitioners.3
- Under article 7:454 of the Civil Code, the WGBO, a care provider keeps the patient file for twenty years from its last change.4
- The Besluit elektronische gegevensverwerking door zorgaanbieders makes NEN 7510 and NEN 7512 the measure for a care provider's information systems.5
- wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic.
Summary
An Amsterdam clinic can use AI for notes and patient messages in 2026 when its systems meet NEN 7510, the patient file is kept for twenty years under the WGBO and a qualified person checks every output. From 2 August 2026 the AI Act's transparency rules also apply, with the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens as the intended supervisor.
Amsterdam clinics now answer the enquiries that arrive overnight from new arrivals before morning surgery, and doctors leave with every note signed. The city adds thousands of international residents a year, and Dutch law sets clear terms for the systems that serve them.
Part of the IGJ hub, with the framework explained, a readiness checklist and 7 guides.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoSee a late-evening WhatsApp enquiry from a family new to Amsterdam become an approved reply and a booked appointment with a deposit in euros, in fifteen minutes with a clinician who uses wai daily.
| Body or law | Rule | What to ask | How wai meets it |
|---|---|---|---|
| WGBO, article 7:454 Civil Code | Patient file kept twenty years from its last change | How retention and full export work at exit | Every message, draft and signature logged and exportable |
| Besluit elektronische gegevensverwerking door zorgaanbieders | Care information systems used in line with NEN 7510 and NEN 7512 | How the vendor's controls map to NEN 7510 | AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit, role-based access enforced in the database |
| Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd | Generative AI introduced with care, purpose set and results checked | Who reviews each AI output before it is used | Every note stays a draft until the doctor signs it |
| Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, GDPR and AI Act | Health data specially protected, and AI use made clear to patients from 2 August 2026 | Where data is stored and whether it trains any model | Records hosted in the clinic's own country, and patient data never used to train models |
| Patient messages | No patient data in public chatbots | Who can send a reply to a patient | A person at the clinic approves every reply before it goes |
The private care market in Amsterdam
Amsterdam had 941,873 residents at the start of 2026, and the city's statistics office expects about 178,000 more by 2055.1 In 2025 foreign migration added 14,000 residents on balance, while 10,000 more left for other Dutch towns than arrived from them.2
Care here is delivered by many small providers. The city registered 14,564 health and welfare establishments in 2023, nearly twice the number of a decade earlier, with most of them in the Zuid and Nieuw-West districts.3 Sole practitioners made up 68% of them, 9,855 businesses, up from 53% in 2013.3
The rules an Amsterdam clinic works under
The WGBO, the medical treatment contract in Book 7 of the Civil Code, requires a file on each patient's treatment. Article 7:454 sets the keeping period at twenty years from the last change to the file, or longer where good care requires it.4
The Besluit elektronische gegevensverwerking door zorgaanbieders, published in Staatsblad 2017, 446, makes the national information security norm binding. Article 3 requires a care provider to ensure safe and careful use of its care information system in line with NEN 7510 and NEN 7512.5 Ask how its controls map to NEN 7510.
The Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd asked care providers in February 2025 to introduce generative AI carefully, naming consultation summaries and patient chatbots as examples. It expects providers to know the limits of the tools, to set each tool's purpose and to check its results.6
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens supervises personal data and is the intended supervisor for the EU AI Act. From 2 August 2026 it must be clear to a patient who calls a GP practice when they are speaking with an AI assistant.7 It has also recorded a data breach in which a GP practice employee entered patients' medical data into a public AI chatbot.8
wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic. wai is compliant with these rules and built for clinics in Amsterdam. wai drafts each reply and each note, a person at the clinic approves the reply, the doctor signs the note, and every step is logged for export.10
The languages Amsterdam patients write in
The people who moved to Amsterdam in 2025 came mainly from the United States, Italy, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, India and Turkey, and most were between 18 and 30.1 Enquiries arrive in the language each family uses at home.
wai works in any language, and every reply is approved by a member of the team before it goes.9 Read more on why a person approves every patient message.
What a demo shows in Amsterdam
The demo opens on a WhatsApp message sent at 23.10 by a parent who moved to Zuid in the summer and wants a first appointment for both children before the school week. wai places it in the family's thread, reads the doctor's busy times from Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar, and drafts a reply in the parent's language offering two adjoining open slots on Thursday. The assistant approves it at 8.00.
The booking link takes a deposit in euros through the clinic's own Stripe account, with the clinic as merchant of record. The family receives a receipt and an intake questionnaire, and each child gets a wai Profile for letters and results. After the visit the doctor edits and signs the drafted note and the referral letter.
For hospital groups, insurers and public bodies in Amsterdam
Hospital groups and insurers in the Amsterdam region can have a system of their own built on wai, under their own brand, with data and model rights agreed in the contract. Work starts on one defined pathway with its measures agreed first. Read how it works on the organisations page.
Where to start
First, set the purpose of each AI tool in writing and name who checks its output, as the IGJ asks.6 Second, ask each vendor for its NEN 7510 mapping, its hosting country and its subprocessors.5 Third, confirm that files are kept for twenty years and can be exported in full.4
Fourth, agree how patients learn that drafts are prepared with AI, ahead of the AI Act transparency rules.7 Fifth, count last month's enquiries by hour and language so the demo runs on the clinic's real week. The guide to data residency covers transfers in depth.
Send us last month's enquiries by hour and language, and we show the week they would have filled.
Frequently asked questions
How long must an Amsterdam clinic keep patient files?
Twenty years from the last change to the file, or longer where good care requires it, under article 7:454 of the Civil Code.4
Is NEN 7510 compulsory for a private clinic?
The Besluit elektronische gegevensverwerking door zorgaanbieders requires a care provider to use its care information system safely in line with NEN 7510 and NEN 7512.5 Ask show how its controls map to the norm.
What does the IGJ expect from clinics using generative AI?
Careful introduction, enough knowledge of the tool's limits, a set purpose, validated data and checked results.6
Does the AI Act change how a clinic talks to patients?
From 2 August 2026 a patient must be able to tell when they are dealing with an AI assistant, and the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens is the intended supervisor.7 With wai, a person at the clinic approves and sends every reply.
Where are the clinic's records hosted?
wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic.
Can patients write to the clinic in their own language?
Yes. wai works in any language, and a person at the clinic approves each draft before it is sent.9 Bring a real enquiry from last month to the demo.
Sources
- 1Gemeente Amsterdam, Onderzoek en Statistiek, 2026Bevolkingsprognose 2026-2055Read 15 October 2026Read source
- 2Gemeente Amsterdam, Onderzoek en Statistiek, 2026Thema bevolkingRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 3Gemeente Amsterdam, Onderzoek en Statistiek, 2024Zorg in cijfersRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 4Overheid.nl, wetten.overheid.nlBurgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7, article 454 (WGBO)Read 15 October 2026Read source
- 5Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport, officielebekendmakingen.nl, 2017Besluit elektronische gegevensverwerking door zorgaanbieders, Staatsblad 2017, 446Read 15 October 2026Read source
- 6Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd, 2025IGJ roept zorgaanbieders op om zorgvuldig om te gaan met generatieve AIRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 7Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, 2026Vanaf 2 augustus wordt duidelijker of het AI is of echtRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 8Autoriteit PersoonsgegevensCaution, use of AI chatbot may lead to data breachesRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 9wai, 2026wai changelog, intake answered by voice in any languageRead 15 October 2026Read source
- 10wai, 2026Security at waiRead 15 October 2026Read source
Every Amsterdam enquiry answered before morning surgery.
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