Teleconsultation: a prediction that came true and a collective failure

In an opinion piece on Medi-Sfeer, Dr Sam Ward looks back on a warning he gave earlier: teleconsultation would not take off in Belgium as long as it stayed within the third-party payer system. In his view, that is what happened.

Dr Ward argues that doctors and patients should be able to organise teleconsultations themselves, with simple direct reimbursement and no extra paperwork. He points out that neighbouring countries such as France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries have built teleconsultation into their healthcare systems.

He sees clear benefits for people who find it hard to get to a doctor: older people with limited mobility, patients in rural areas, busy workers and single parents.

He names a lack of trust between policymakers and healthcare professionals as the core problem, and calls for policy built on trust, in line with European standards, with a clear ethical framework that does not hold back innovation.

Published on Medi-Sfeer on 5 November 2025. Read the full article on Medi-Sfeer (in Dutch).