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What is HKZ?

Nov 26, 2025Audit / Health care

Demonstrating quality in healthcare

The healthcare sector is constantly changing. Organizations are confronted with changing legislation, administrative pressure, staff shortages, and higher expectations from clients. In this dynamic environment, it is important to demonstrate that you deliver quality. And that is exactly what HKZ does: demonstrate quality in healthcare.

What does HKZ entail?

HKZ stands for Harmonization Quality Assessment in the Healthcare Sector. It is a nationally recognized certification scheme for healthcare and welfare organizations and is divided into various schemes, including the best-known HKZ Care and Welfare and HKZ Small Organizations. We will discuss this in more detail below.

Reliability, safety, client focus, and continuous improvement

An HKZ certificate demonstrates that your quality systems are in order. The standard focuses on reliability, safety, client focus, and continuous improvement. This means you not only meet the requirements of regulators and clients, but also strengthen the trust of clients, employees, and chain partners.
HKZ offers a practical and applicable structure based on ISO 9001, but fully adapted to the reality of healthcare. Think of themes such as:
  • Client autonomy
  • Shared decision making
  • Cooperation with chain partners
  • Client experiences and feedback
  • Risk management at the process level
HKZ certification is not mandatory, but in practice it is often a requirement. Many clients, from municipalities to health insurers, make HKZ certification mandatory when awarding contracts or concluding agreements.

Who is HKZ intended for?

The benefits of HKZ in healthcare

  • You demonstrate that your organization meets objective quality standards. This creates trust among clients, municipalities, health insurers, and other partners.
  • HKZ helps your organization make processes transparent, manageable, and transferable. Responsibilities are clearly assigned, and areas for improvement are addressed systematically.
  • The HKZ standard is practical and aligns with your daily work practices. Instead of thick manuals, it focuses on workable agreements and improvement cycles. That means less paperwork, less duplication of effort, and more time for care itself.
  • The certification scheme clearly identifies risks at the process level. Audits reveal areas for improvement that directly contribute to higher quality and greater safety in healthcare.

DEKRA: audit partner with broad healthcare experience

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DEKRA has been active in the healthcare sector since 1996 and has in-depth knowledge of the industry. As an independent and accredited certification body, we are officially recognized by the Dutch Accreditation Council (RvA) to carry out HKZ certifications. This means you can count on an objective assessment that is recognized both nationally and internationally.
Our auditors have extensive experience in the healthcare sector. They understand the challenges and opportunities within a wide range of healthcare environments. During the audit, we involve both management and healthcare professionals in the assessment. This provides a complete and realistic picture of how processes are organized and implemented in your organization.
At DEKRA, people are at the heart of the audit process. We call this People Based Auditing: an approach that focuses not only on policy, but above all on its implementation in practice. This approach is a standard part of our HKZ audits and is well suited to the reality of healthcare.

Ask your question about HKZ certification

Would you like to know more about what HKZ is and what it means for your organization? Feel free to contact one of our experts or ask your question online.
Do you have a question? Get in touch with one of our experts
Harriëtte van der Sar