Dokterswacht Friesland

What Dokterswacht Friesland does

Dokterswacht Friesland is the statutory regional provider of out-of-hours urgent GP care for the entire Friesland province in the Netherlands, operating a central TriageCenter that routes patients via telephone, online self-triage, or mobile app chat to one of five emergency GP posts in Dokkum, Drachten, Heerenveen, Leeuwarden, and Sneek, or arranges a home visit. The organization was established in 2002 at the initiative of the Friese Huisartsenvereniging and coordinates approximately 300 affiliated Friesland-based GPs across the on-call rotation, with 51–100 direct employees handling triage, coordination, and post-acute operations. Its technology stack is built around the Dutch Triage Standard (NTS) protocol, a CE-marked online self-triage questionnaire supplied by Moet Ik Naar De Dokter, and a proprietary Android/iOS mobile app providing chat-based advice on weekends and Friday evenings.

Dokterswacht Friesland generates no direct patient revenue; services are funded through the Dutch mandatory health insurance system, with no out-of-pocket cost to patients. The entity operates as a wholly-owned operating subsidiary of Dokterszorg Friesland Holding BV, alongside sister entities Doktersacademie Friesland (GP training), Ketenzorg Friesland (chronic care), and Doktersdiensten Friesland (practice management support). The organization holds HKZ 153, NEN 7510, and ISO 27001 certifications, participates in NIVEL's national primary care research program, and is launching a cross-provincial Zorg Coördinatiecentrum (Care Coordination Center) project in 2025 in collaboration with GP organizations across Friesland, Groningen, and Drenthe to address acute care pressure.

Name

Dokterswacht Friesland

Legal name

Dokterszorg Friesland Holding BV

Website

https://dokterswacht.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Dokterswacht Friesland is the statutory out-of-hours urgent GP care provider for the Friesland province in the Netherlands, operating a central TriageCenter and five emergency GP posts serving approximately 650,000 residents and visitors with publicly funded services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Out-of-Hours Urgent Primary Care

NAICS

Offices of Physicians (62111), Offices of All Other Miscellaneous Health Practitioners (621399), Home Health Care Services (62161)

SIC

Services-Offices & Clinics Of Doctors Of Medicine (8011), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Nurse Triage & Clinical Call-Center Teletriage Platforms (HLALAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

After-Hours & Walk-In Primary Care Clinics (HLAFADAH), Symptom Checker & Self-Triage Platforms (HLALAJAB)

Keywords

• Urgent GP care
• Out-of-hours primary care
• Medical triage services
• After-hours healthcare
• Emergency GP posts

Headquarters

HQ city

Heerenveen

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Dutch Health Insurance Funded Services: Dokterswacht Friesland operates under the Dutch healthcare system, where emergency GP care outside office hours is covered by mandatory health insurance. Patients incur no direct out-of-pocket costs for the service. Funding flows through health insurers to the regional GP on-call structure. No revenue model types enumeration applies as the service is not commercially sold.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Dokterswacht Friesland provides urgent GP (general practitioner) care outside regular office hours — evenings, nights, weekends, and public holidays — for residents and visitors of the Friesland province in the Netherlands. A central TriageCenter routes patients via phone or app-based chat to telephone advice, scheduled appointments at one of five physical emergency GP posts, home visits, or ambulance referral, supported by an online self-triage questionnaire and a mobile chat application.

Product overview

Dokterswacht Friesland provides urgent primary care services outside office hours (evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays) for residents and visitors in Friesland, Netherlands. The service consists of a core triage system (TriageCenter) coordinating telephone triage, online self-triage via Moet Ik Naar De Dokter, a mobile chat application, and five physical Huisartsenspoedposten (GP emergency clinics) in Dokkum, Drachten, Heerenveen, Leeuwarden, and Sneek. Approximately 300 Friesland GPs are affiliated with the organization. The service was established in 2002 and is part of Dokterszorg Friesland holding company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TriageCenter (TriageCentrum) Central coordination hub where triagists receive all incoming telephone calls from patients requiring urgent primary care outside office hours. Triagists assess urgency and determine appropriate care pathways.
• Telephone Triage (Telefonische Triage) Telephone-based medical urgency assessment conducted by trained triagists who determine whether patients need immediate medical attention, a clinic visit, home visit, or can receive advice to wait for their regular GP.
• Online Self-Triage (Moet Ik Naar De Dokter) Online symptom questionnaire that allows patients to assess their complaints via the Dokterswacht website. Based on the answers, the system determines whether patients can be helped online or need a call-back from a triagist.
• Dokterswacht Mobile App with Chat Function Mobile application for Android and iOS that allows patients to receive medical advice via chat during busy periods. Available Friday 17:00-20:00 and weekends 09:00-20:00.
• GP Emergency Posts (Huisartsenspoedposten) Five physical emergency GP clinics located in Dokkum, Drachten, Heerenveen, Leeuwarden, and Sneek. Patients can visit by appointment only after triage assessment. Located near hospitals (except Dokkum) with close cooperation.
• GP Home Visits (Huisbezoek) When medically necessary, Dokterswacht doctors visit patients at home to provide urgent medical care. Arranged through the TriageCenter.

Quantifiable outcome

• 7 out of 10 callers are managed with telephone advice alone, avoiding unnecessary emergency GP post visits
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Zorgbelang FryslânminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Zorgbelang Fryslân conducted a 2024 patient satisfaction survey on behalf of Dokterswacht across three emergency GP posts. Results informed service improvement priorities. Zorgbelang also serves as the contact point for the nighttime staffing pilot research.
• Dokterszorg FrieslandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDokterswacht Friesland is an operating entity under the holding company Dokterszorg Friesland, an organization owned by and for GPs. Dokterszorg Friesland provides shared services and infrastructure. Dokterszorg Friesland also encompasses Doktersacademie Friesland (training), Ketenzorg Friesland (chronic care), and Doktersdiensten Friesland (practice management support).
• Moet Ik Naar De DoktercoreTechnology or IntegrationMoet Ik Naar De Dokter supplies the online symptom questionnaire technology embedded on Dokterswacht's website, enabling patients to self-assess whether they need urgent care. The tool is CE-marked and certified to NEN 7510 and ISO 27001. All questions and advice are based on medical standards from NHG and NTS, reviewed by a medical board.
• NIVEL (Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek van de Gezondheidszorg)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDokterswacht participates in NIVEL's national scientific research on primary care data registration. Annually, anonymized patient data is supplied to the research program, which tracks how approximately 400,000 people access primary healthcare. Patients may opt out of data sharing.
• Friese Huisartsenvereniging (FHV)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDokterswacht Friesland was established in 2002 at the initiative of the Friese Huisartsenvereniging (Friesland GP Association). The FHV and Dokterswacht jointly conducted a 2025 pilot study on reducing nighttime GP staffing from 2025-07-01 to 2025-12-31.
• Huisartsenorganisaties Friesland, Groningen en DrentheminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGP organizations across three provinces collaborated with chain partners on a regional plan for the Zorg Coördinatiecentrum (Care Coordination Center), aiming to reduce pressure on acute care through improved triage, organization, and coordination. Dokterswacht Friesland serves as the lead organization.
• Doktersdienst GroningenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDokterswacht Friesland conducted a working visit to Doktersdienst Groningen (neighboring province) to learn about their TriageCenter operations, gaining inspiration for the Zorg Coördinatiecentrum development.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Doktersdienst Groningen: Neighboring regional huisartsenspoedpost covering the province of Groningen. Operates an identical after-hours GP triage model with its own TriageCenter and emergency posts, making it the closest structural and operational comparable to Dokterswacht Friesland.
• Stichting Huisartsenposten Amsterdam: Regional after-hours GP cooperative serving the Amsterdam metro area. Comparable in that it operates a centralized telephone triage system and multiple physical emergency GP posts funded via the Dutch mandatory health insurance model.
• Medicinfo (Stichting DOK): Dutch triage and patient information service provider operating telephone and online triage for multiple healthcare clients. Functionally comparable to Dokterswacht's TriageCenter and self-triage tool.
• HAP Nijmegen (Coöperatie Huisartsendiensten Nijmegen e.o.): Regional after-hours GP service in the Nijmegen region using the NTS triage standard and physical huisartsenspoedposten. Directly comparable in statutory structure, funding mechanism, and operational model.

Emerging players

• Ksyos: Dutch digital health platform enabling specialist consultations via telehealth. Comparable in deploying technology-mediated triage and routing within Dutch primary and secondary care, though operating in a different clinical niche.
• Livi (Europe): Digital-first GP service operating across several European markets including the Netherlands. Comparable in offering asynchronous chat and video triage to patients, though commercially positioned rather than statutory like Dokterswacht.

Broad incumbents

• NHS 111 (NHS England): UK national non-emergency telephone and online triage service. Operates at far greater scale but uses analogous symptom-based triage, deflection of low-acuity cases, and routing to appropriate care, making it a strategic benchmark for triage-led urgent care.

Others

• Moet Ik Naar De Dokter: Technology partner that supplies the online self-triage questionnaire used on Dokterswacht's website. Adjacent rather than competitive: same triage standard ecosystem (NTS/NHG), CE-marked, and embedded in multiple Dutch after-hours GP services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/dokterswacht
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dokterswachtfriesland

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dokterswacht Friesland