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Nov 25, 2024

More than half of Belgians are already open to video consultation with their General Practitioner

Insurope’s Network Member, AG, and Belgium’s market leader in group insurance recently commissioned a survey along with Doktr, the Belgian video consultation app to gain important insights into consumer behavior related to doctor’s visits. The survey addressed the important issues around making urgent appointments or finding General Practitioners (GPs) who take new patients, which can pose a challenge in Belgium.

In some European countries, video consultation is already part of the solution to this problem. With the introduction of Doktr in 2022, Belgians have easy access to video consultation as well. Moreover, the good news is that more than half of Belgians now indicate that they are open to it(1). In the short term, video consultations can also help alleviate the pressure on the healthcare system in Belgium, thus simplifying access to medical care.

Overstaffed and understaffed: GP availability is declining

The "old-style general practitioner", available from early in the morning until late at night and at least from Monday to Saturday, is almost extinct. This allows for a better work-life balance of the profession, but the other side of the coin is that today we have more difficult access to medical care. For example, according to the iVOX survey by AG and Doktr, 1 in 10 Belgians does not have a regular GP.

A significant part of this group does not have one because they simply cannot find a GP or are on a waiting list. This is no surprise: 75% of Belgian general practitioners currently have a full or partial patient stop(2). In addition, 2.5 million Belgians do not have a doctor who manages their Global Medical Record (GMR)(3).

Some striking elements from the survey on the availability of the Belgian doctor:

  • Free consultations (without appointment) are a thing of the past: 95% of GP visits are now by appointment, of which 47.2% via the website and 47.7% by telephone. Free consultation therefore virtually ceases to exist.
  • More than 65% of Belgians say they are willing to consult another doctor if they can get an appointment there more quickly.
  • In Wallonia, only 23% can make an appointment with a GP after 6 p.m. on weekdays. In Brussels, this is only 1 in 6 (17%). Flanders scores noticeably better in this area: half of the respondents (48%) indicate that they can still visit their GP in the evening.
  • Just under 10% of Belgians indicate that they can still visit their GP on Saturdays.
  • 3 out of 5 Belgians (60%) can no longer go to their GPs for a home visit. However, 7 out of 10 people over the age of 55 greatly appreciate the possibility of a home visit.

Having a regular GP is no longer a guarantee of quick availability. In several Belgian municipalities, waiting times can be up to several weeks. The recent municipal and city monitor(4) shows a 15% decrease in satisfaction with the availability of general practitioners in the last 3 years. And unfortunately, there is no immediate improvement in sight: after all, many doctors who are retiring are not replaced.

Patient openness to video consultation continues to grow

In this changing landscape – characterized by more difficult access to the GP – it is important that society adapts. In our neighboring countries, we see that video consultations are part of the solution. After a slow start, the willingness to do so now also seems to be on the rise among Belgians, according to the survey.

More than half of Belgians (53%) now indicate that they are open to video consultations. This is an increase of 25%, as measured in a study conducted by Proximus in 2020 at the launch of Doktr – albeit in the middle of the COVID crisis. However, there are clear regional differences: Wallonia has the lowest openness (44.6%). Demographic characteristics also have an influence. The younger and the more educated a patient is, the more likely he/she is to be open to video consultation.

However, only 5% of those surveyed indicated that they had done a video consultation with a GP. This is not surprising, given that very few GPs already use video consultations in their practice today. Telephone consultations are more established (96.5% of all remote consultations), despite not allowing for visual evaluation or regularly disrupting physical consultations.

In ten months, from August 2022 to June 2023, the NIHDI registered no less than 5.7 million remote consultations(5). This confirms that patients do not always have to physically visit the doctor's office.

Belgians themselves consider video consultations most often for matters such as (in order of decreasing importance): renewing a prescription, advice and/or treatment in case of infections (e.g. flu, colds), advice and/or treatment in case of physical complaints (e.g. abdominal pain, headache), help in interpreting examinations and tests (e.g. blood results) and advice on medicines and their side effects.

AG and Doktr provide access to quality remote care

As the largest health insurer in Belgium, AG feels responsible for thinking about the challenges and the future of healthcare in Belgium and for anticipating new needs that arise. It is essential to look for flexible solutions that can complement the existing healthcare system in Belgium. Since last year, the Doktr video consultation app has therefore been integrated into AG's group insurance offering, in order to improve and simplify access to primary care.

This alternative is especially welcome because 3 out of 10 Belgians indicate that they do not seek advice if their doctor is not available, with the risk that their condition or symptoms would worsen. Furthermore, 1 patient in 10 indicates that they go directly to the emergency room if the GP is fully booked. Another 10 percent turn to "Doctor Google" for medical advice.

Video consultations offer these groups a very convenient way to quickly get in touch with a licensed GP, no matter where the patient is.

Jan Van Wijnendaele, CEO of Doktr states, "At Doktr, we act as a digital healthcare provider, addressing issues such as access to primary care, mental health and employee wellbeing. We connect patients, caregivers, businesses and partners across the health ecosystem. With over 120,000 registered users and a patient satisfaction rate of 97%, we are driving positive change. Our partnership with AG allows us to specifically improve workplace wellbeing, address long-term illness and foster healthier, more engaged teams."

Benoit Halbart, Managing Director Employee Benefits / Health Care at AG Insurance said, "AG and Doktr are working closely together to make video consultations more accessible to patients. It is a strong partnership between two companies with complementary ambitions to build an ecosystem that supports the specific Belgian care model, and that responds to the current pressures and to the future demand for hybrid care. We are convinced that video consultation is an intelligent and fully-fledged addition to the traditional consultations with the general practitioner."

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(1) Online survey conducted by iVOX, commissioned by AG Insurance and Doktr, between 8 and 21 May 2024 among 2,000 Belgians representative by region, gender, age and diploma. The maximum margin of error (2,000 Belgians) is 2.19%.
(2) FPS Public Health Survey: https://www.health.belgium.be/sites/default/files/uploads/fields/fpshealth_theme_file/20230417_nl_im_associates_-_rapport_tijdsindeling_huisartsen.pdf
(3) IMA-AIM – Atlas (2021). http://www.ima-aim.be/
(4) Your municipality at a glance. (2024). Municipality-City Monitor Flanders. https://gemeente-stadsmonitor.vlaanderen.be/
(5) Meeussen, C. (2023, 16 October). Since corona, the digital doctor has been booming: we especially like to make phone calls. The Standard. https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20231015_96408995#:~:text=Van%20augustus%202022%20tot%20en,5%20procent%20van%20de%20gevallen.