Belgium

Healthcare System

Mandatory social health insurance for all residents. Federal system with compulsory membership in a mutualité/ziekenfonds (sickness fund). Bilingual country with three linguistic communities (Flemish, French, German), each with healthcare competencies. INAMI/RIZIV (Institut national d'assurance maladie-invalidité / Rijksinstituut voor ziekte- en invaliditeitsverzekering) is the federal institute that manages the nomenclature and reimbursement rules.

System Type: Universal multi-payer (Bismarck model)
Regulatory Body: FAMHP / FAGG-AFMPS (Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products)
Data Protection: GDPR (EU) + Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD/GBA). eHealth-specific: eHealth platform governance under federal law. Medical secrecy (professional geheim / secret professionnel) under Belgian Penal Code.
Currency: EUR
Emergency Number: 112
Languages: fr, nl

Coding Systems

diagnosis

ICD-10-BE

Belgian adaptation of WHO ICD-10, maintained by FPS Health. Aligned with WHO ICD-10 base; used for hospital billing and epidemiological reporting.

dental

FDI (ISO 3950)

Federation Dentaire Internationale two-digit notation. Standard across Europe including Belgium.

procedures

RIZIV/INAMI

Belgian national nomenclature of medical acts (nomenclature des prestations de santé / nomenclatuur van de gezondheidszorg). Uses numeric article codes (e.g., 227136 for appendectomy). Maintained by INAMI/RIZIV. ~7,000 article numbers covering medical, surgical, dental, and paramedical acts.

dental Procedures

RIZIV dental nomenclature

Dental procedures coded within the RIZIV/INAMI nomenclature. Specific dental article numbers for consultations, restorations, extractions, endodontics, periodontics, and prosthetics.

drugs

FAMHP / CBIP

Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAGG/AFMPS) drug registration. CBIP (Compendium of Medicinal Products) is the Belgian drug database with official product information. Uses CNK codes (code kruispuntbank nummer) for pharmacy reimbursement.

hospital Billing

APR-DRG

All Patient Refined Diagnosis-Related Groups used for Belgian hospital billing and mutualité reimbursement. Federal government sets reference prices per APR-DRG.

Translation Corridors

MA→BE (Moroccan diaspora — Arabic/French medical records for Belgian mutualité) TR→BE (Turkish community) IT→BE (Italian community) FR→BE (French cross-border workers) NL→BE (Dutch cross-border workers) DE→BE (German community and cross-border workers) BE→FR (French-speaking Belgians seeking care in France) BE→NL (Flemish Belgians in Dutch healthcare system) BE→DE (German community members) BE→UK (Belgian expats) BE→US (Belgian expats on US employer insurance)

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