Custom G-Standaard integration
The G-Standaard from Z-Index is the database of data on medicines and other healthcare products that Dutch healthcare uses for prescribing, dispensing, ordering, claiming and reimbursement. It is published every month. If you want to use that data in your own software, alongside or outside a standard package, you need an integration that reads in the files, processes each release and makes the data available in the right place. Appfront builds that integration.
What is a G-Standaard integration?
A G-Standaard integration brings Z-Index's data into your own software. According to Z-Index, the G-Standaard is a database with detailed information on medicines and other healthcare products, such as medical devices and dietary supplements. It supports the prescribing, dispensing, ordering, claiming and reimbursement of healthcare products, and reaches prescribing, dispensing and ordering systems via software vendors. Community pharmacists, hospital pharmacists, GPs, medical specialists and health insurers all use it. Pharmaceutical companies submit their product range through the G-Standaard input portal, and health insurers submit their preferred-product policy and pricing information through web applications.
The G-Standaard has a hierarchical structure, from package up to active substance. Z-Index calls this structure the Ruggengraat (backbone): its levels are determined by characteristics such as active ingredients, route of administration, pharmaceutical form, supplier and package. For medicines, all levels are recorded; for other products, only the ZI and HPK levels. The Ruggengraat is the framework for medication surveillance, insurance and logistics, among other things. There are also separate files, such as the Taxebestand (price file) with the pricing part, and selections such as G-Standaard flex and Lijst op Maat. Z-Index publishes file descriptions and implementation guidelines, and the data is obtained through Z-Index under its licence terms.
We build custom integrations because the G-Standaard contains far more than any single application needs, and because every release brings changes. An ordering system needs different files and fields than a claims check or your own prescribing module. The integration reads in the files you subscribe to according to the file descriptions, keeps the relationships between the levels intact and shows, per release, which items are new, changed or discontinued. Which files and levels you need, and whether your licence covers that use, we establish with you and Z-Index in the first step.
In your software
The data where you need it.
Every month
Every release processed.
Traceable
Changes visible per release.
How we build your G-Standaard integration
We start with your application: what you use the data for, which G-Standaard files you take or need, and which system they need to end up in. Next, using the file descriptions, we model the files and fields you use and build the import of a full release. You test the integration with a real release and check a number of known items. Then come the processing of changes per release and making the data available in your system. If Z-Index changes a file description, we update the integration.
Use, files, target system.
A full release.
New, changed, discontinued.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when descriptions change.
What a G-Standaard integration actually does
The components below appear in almost every G-Standaard integration. Which ones you need depends on your application and on the files you take.
Import
Files according to the description.
Levels
Relationships between items intact.
Spend
Processed every month.
Changes
New and discontinued items flagged.
Search
Items easy to find.
Log
Every release traceable.
Who we build a G-Standaard integration for
The integration is intended for organisations that want to use the G-Standaard in software that does not come from an off-the-shelf package, or that need the data in a different way than their package provides it.
Pharmacies
Your own modules alongside the pharmacy information system (AIS).
Healthcare organisations
Ordering and stock.
Health insurers
Claims checked.
Software builders
The G-Standaard in your package.
Technology and integrations
This page covers using G-Standaard data in your own software. If you want to build the pharmacy software itself, see building pharmacy software; for sharing medication data between healthcare providers, see our page on the medication transfer integration. For structured healthcare information, read more about the zibs integration, and for claims, the VECOZO integration. You can read about how we work on building software.
Why Appfront for your G-Standaard integration?
An item that has expired but is still in your system, a release that is imported by hand, or a relationship between package and product that gets lost during import all lead to errors in orders, claims or overviews. That is what we build against: importing according to the official specifications, every release processed, and changes you can see.
According to the specification
Files exactly as Z-Index delivers them.
Every release
Nothing imported by hand.
Visible
Changes in the log.
Security and privacy for a G-Standaard integration
The G-Standaard data itself is not personal data, but it is covered by the Z-Index licence terms. The integration only uses the files you subscribe to, for the purpose your licence covers, and only shows them to people who have the rights to see them. If the integration is used alongside patient data, such as in a pharmacy or prescribing system, the GDPR and the stricter rules for health data apply to that part.
The integration runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage. Credentials for retrieving the files are stored securely and are not visible to staff. We agree with you in advance who may see and change which data.
Frequently asked questions about a G-Standaard integration
Questions that pharmacies, care organisations and healthcare software vendors ask before they start.
The G-Standaard is Z-Index's database containing detailed information on medicines and other healthcare products, such as medical devices and dietary supplements. It is used when prescribing, dispensing, ordering, claiming and reimbursing healthcare products.
Z-Index publishes the G-Standaard every month. An integration processes each release and shows which items are new, changed or discontinued, so your system never works with outdated data.
Hierarchically, from package to active substance. Z-Index calls this structure the Backbone (Ruggengraat). For medicines, all levels are recorded; for other products, only the ZI and HPK levels.
The data is supplied through Z-Index, under the Z-Index licence terms. There are several products, such as the full download, the Taxe file and selections like G-Standaard flex and Lijst op Maat. We discuss which ones suit your application with you and Z-Index beforehand.
Pharmacy software is the system a pharmacy works with, and most packages already include the G-Standaard. A G-Standaard integration is intended for your own software or custom modules that need the data, alongside or outside such a package.
The integration checks every release for completeness and for the structure defined in the file specifications. If something is wrong, the previous release stays in use and you receive a notification with the reason, so your system never holds partially processed data.
For organisations that want to use the G-Standaard in their own software, in their own ordering or checking process, or as a supplier in their own package. If you only work with a standard package that already includes the G-Standaard, you usually do not need your own integration.
The G-Standaard in your own software?
Tell us what you want to use the data for and which system it needs to go into. We will show you how an integration processes each release for you.