Joost Akkermans MD. PhD.

Joost Akkermans, MD. PhD. is a obstetrician-gynecologist and Chief Medical Data Officer at Medisch Spectrum Twente, part of Santeon - a collaborative network of seven leading Dutch teaching hospitals committed to value-based healthcare. He operates at the intersection of clinical care, data infrastructure, and healthcare transformation - simultaneously practicing high-risk obstetrics and driving systemic change at regional and national level. Within Santeon, Joost works to translate value-based principles into clinical reality: aligning outcome measurement, data infrastructure, and care pathway redesign across hospital boundaries. He is currently leading the development of a national guideline for digital pregnancy care and scaling a regional maternity app that bridges first- and second-line care. Joost is a vocal critic of fragmented digital health investment and advocates for national data infrastructure as a prerequisite, not a byproduct, of meaningful care transformation.