COMPANY PLAYBOOK
Buurtzorg
System principles
- Organize care around client independence.
- Own team outcomes collectively.
Tensions and trade-offs
- Consensus increases participation but can lengthen decision-making.
PRACTICES
How Buurtzorg builds its operating system
Collective team accountability
Team members are collectively responsible for team results. Note (12 Oct 2026): the source page has returned 404 since 28 Sep 2026 and no new address was found; the details above reflect an earlier reading and can no longer be verified.
- How it works
- The team, rather than an individual manager, carries responsibility for the result.
- Why it is used
- It keeps decisions with practitioners closest to care.
- Trade-off
- Collective accountability can leave ownership unclear without disciplined coordination.
- Best fit
- Small professional teams with shared work.
Consensus team decisions
Team decisions are made by consensus. Note (12 Oct 2026): the source page has returned 404 since 28 Sep 2026 and no new address was found; the details above reflect an earlier reading and can no longer be verified.
- How it works
- Members seek agreement rather than relying on a manager’s directive.
- Why it is used
- It gives those delivering care a voice in how it is organized.
- Trade-off
- Consensus is demanding when urgency or disagreement is high.
- Best fit
- Decisions where affected team members can deliberate.
Continuity and neighbourhood networks
The model treats trusting relationships and neighbourhood networks as care principles.
- How it works
- Teams organize care around continuity, trust and local connections.
- Why it is used
- It supports client independence rather than fragmented service encounters.
- Trade-off
- Relationship-building requires time that throughput measures may undercount.
- Best fit
- Community care with repeat contact and local partners.
Make client self-management a care objective
Care planning starts from solutions that increase the client’s independence and quality of life.
- How it works
- The onion model assembles needed solutions outward from the client perspective.
- Why it is used
- Connects service delivery to the client’s everyday outcome rather than task completion.
- Trade-off
- Individualized coordination can reduce standardized throughput.
- Best fit
- Care services where continuity and functional independence matter.
Embed a common care taxonomy in the information system
The research-based standardized Omaha taxonomy is integrated into Buurtzorg Web to support care recording and coordination.
- How it works
- A shared taxonomy gives teams one structure for health problems, interventions, and outcomes.
- Why it is used
- Makes care information comparable and transferable across teams.
- Trade-off
- A standard taxonomy can constrain local, nuanced narrative.
- Best fit
- Health systems needing shared care records across distributed professional teams.