Health Record Rights Index · country brief · this country's data as of October 1, 2026
Who holds the health record in Croatia?
In 2026, Croatia scores 60 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record. It is tied for 23rd of 198 countries and territories, and could rank anywhere from 9th to 38th allowing for scoring error, in the Mixed band (45 to 64). Who holds the keys: you and the health system. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026.
The person has real controls inside a government or provider system. Its strongest right, compared with the typical country, is control over who sees it (66 out of 100, against 30 for the typical country). The furthest behind is your say over research use (45 out of 100, against 46 for the typical country).
Croatians can see labs, prescriptions and hospital letters online and block whole groups of doctors, but private clinics stay outside CEZIH until 2027.
Published · updated · this country's data as of October 1, 2026 · research tool, not legal advice
overall score · Mixed band, 45 to 64
60/100
rank among 198 countries and territories; likely 9th to 38th, allowing for scoring error
Low confidence. Thin evidence on 4 of the 8 rights: your copy, privacy, doctors see it and AI rules. The evidence grade rates all our sources together; confidence looks at each right. Neither changes the score.
Questions people ask
Can I see my health record in Croatia?
In 2026, getting your full record scores 62 out of 100 in Croatia; the typical country scores 40 to 45. The 2004 patient rights law gives a right to the whole record, with copies at the patient's cost. Source: narodne-novine.nn.hr, December 3, 2004, and the other sources below.
Who controls health records in Croatia?
In 2026, you and the health system hold the keys to your health record in Croatia. Control over who sees it scores 66 out of 100 in Croatia; the typical country scores 30. In Portal zdravlja patients can allow or block access by whole groups, such as all family doctors, emergency doctors or hospital specialists. A law-backed log shows who viewed which data and when, but sharing is on by default. Source: Ministarstvo zdravstva, June 24, 2026, and the other sources below.
How does Croatia compare?
In 2026, Croatia scores 60 out of 100, against 39 for the typical country. This brief compares it with Lithuania (60 out of 100), Netherlands (60 out of 100) and Bulgaria (59 out of 100). Source: the ranking of all 198 countries and territories.
Eight rights, compared with Lithuania, Netherlands, Bulgaria, the typical EU country and the typical country
Scores out of 100, by right
Getting your full record20%
62
67 · 55 · 62
Control over who sees it20%
66
62 · 72 · 62
Privacy and security15%
52
50 · 52 · 55
One record across your care15%
68
68 · 60 · 70
Protection from sale and ads10%
56
54 · 62 · 50
Doctors see it when treating you10%
64
64 · 58 · 62
Your say over research use5%
45
48 · 57 · 44
Rules for AI in your care5%
50
50 · 50 · 50
Black dot: Croatia. Hollow dots: Lithuania, Netherlands, Bulgaria (scores out of 100 on the right, same order). Gray line: the typical country of all 198. Dashed teal line: the typical EU country. Overall: Croatia 60 out of 100, the typical EU country 61. Scores move in steps of about 5 points, so read a rank with its likely range.
What would Croatia need to change to score higher?
Croatia sits in Mixed (45 to 64); Strong starts at 65. Its weakest right, compared with the typical country, is your say over research use (45 out of 100, against 46 for the typical country). Every other right is at or above the typical country; the one with the most room to grow, weighted, is getting your full record (62 out of 100, against 40 to 45 for the typical country). Our scoring rules give more points for:
Your say over research use: A way to say no to research use that is actually honored, or being asked first, plus a public list of what research used the data. That puts this right at 55 to 85 out of 100.
Getting your full record: A national portal that shows most people at least part of their record (a summary, prescriptions, lab results) puts this right at 60 to 75 out of 100. A near-full record that you can download, with a long history and used by most people, puts it at 76 to 90.
Which laws give health record rights in Croatia?
Zakon o podacima i informacijama u zdravstvu (NN 14/19) (2019): Creates e-Karton, limits access to treating clinicians, obliges every provider to exchange data via CEZIH.
Zakon o zastiti prava pacijenata (NN 169/04) (2004): Right to the whole medical record, copies at own cost; written consent for research.
Pravilnik o opsegu i sadrzaju podataka te nacinu vodenja e-Kartona (NN 74/2023): Sets e-Karton contents and access; portal must show who viewed which data and when.
Doctors, waits and private care context, not part of the score
Doctors per 10,000
39.7 2023
Nurses and midwives per 10,000
80.5 2023
Private insurance + out-of-pocket
15.1% 2023
Record reaches private care?
partly
"private clinics join only in 2027."
Real cases
April 2026 · Agencija za zaštitu osobnih podataka (AZOP), final decision UP/I-034-01/24-01/23 · archived copy Patients asked a private hospital for their scans; the images had been lost
July 2025 · Agencija za zaštitu osobnih podataka (AZOP), anonymised decision 567-UP/I-034-01/24-01/31 · archived copy Hospital worker photographed a patient's test result on screen and it reached the media
In 2026, Croatia scored 60 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record, tied for 23rd of 198 countries and territories (could be 9th to 38th), in the Mixed band. Who holds the keys: you and the health system. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026, https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/croatia/
The 20 sources for Croatia
Each source appears once, under the first right it supports. Titles are shown as our research agents recorded them, usually in the page's own language; text in square brackets is our machine translation. Links were checked on the date shown.
Getting your full record (4 sources)
“Zakon o zastiti prava pacijenata (NN 169/04)” [Act on the Protection of Patients' Rights (NN 169/04)] our machine translation
narodne-novine.nn.hr (law or regulation) · Title in Croatian
Dated December 3, 2004 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
Used for: Getting your full record; Your say over research use
“Pravilnik o opsegu i sadrzaju podataka te nacinu vodenja e-Kartona (NN 74/2023)” [Ordinance on the scope and content of data and the manner of keeping the e-Karton (NN 74/2023)] our machine translation
narodne-novine.nn.hr (law or regulation) · Title in Croatian
Dated July 6, 2023 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
Used for: Getting your full record; Control over who sees it; Doctors see it when treating you
“Zakon o provedbi Opce uredbe o zastiti podataka (NN 42/18)” [Act on the Implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (NN 42/18)] our machine translation
narodne-novine.nn.hr (law or regulation) · Title in Croatian
Dated May 9, 2018 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
“Izreceno novih sedam upravnih novcanih kazni u iznosu od 169.000 eura” [Seven new administrative fines imposed in the amount of 169,000 euros] our machine translation
AZOP (regulator) · Title in Croatian
Dated March 24, 2025 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
“KBC Zagreb je kontaktirao AZOP, ali pacijente i dalje nije obavijestio” [KBC Zagreb contacted AZOP, but has still not notified patients] our machine translation
Faktograf (news) · Title in Croatian
Dated July 8, 2024 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
“Zakon o podacima i informacijama u zdravstvu (NN 14/19, HLK copy)” [Act on Data and Information in Healthcare (NN 14/19, HLK copy)] our machine translation
hlk.hr (law or regulation) · Title in Croatian
Dated February 7, 2019 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
Used for: One record across your care; Protection from sale and ads; Your say over research use
“Objavljen popis nadleznih tijela sukladno Uredbi o umjetnoj inteligenciji” [List of competent authorities published in accordance with the Artificial Intelligence Regulation] our machine translation
MPUDT (government guidance) · Title in Croatian
Dated December 5, 2024 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
“Hrvatska priprema zakonski okvir za nadzor primjene umjetne inteligencije” [Croatia is preparing a legal framework for supervising the use of artificial intelligence] our machine translation
financije.hr (news) · Title in Croatian
Dated July 21, 2025 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
SuperTruth Inc. · 24 S. 24th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA · +1 215 918 4140 · supertruth.ai Something wrong? Tell us · Questions or a briefing: supertruth.ai/on-the-record#contact · Full index: healthrecordrights.com
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (38 mostly high-income countries). DTI™: the Data Trust Index, which grades the evidence behind each score. SuperTruth makes it and publishes this index. Everything here comes from public information: laws, government and regulator pages, court decisions, published news, WHO, OECD and World Bank data. Full sources: https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/croatia/#sources. SuperTruth built this index and sells health data verification products; no one paid to be included. Research tool, not legal advice. Our scores and our own words are CC BY 4.0; quoted law and source titles stay with their owners.
