In an effort to reintegrate long-term sick individuals into the workforce, the federal government is targeting doctors with new measures.
Patients can now receive sick notes for a maximum of three months during their first year of incapacity. Doctors risk fines if they are found to be deviating from this rule. These measures have been approved at the proposal of Health and Social Affairs Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit).
Vandenbroucke intends to strengthen the "back-to-work" policy initiated in the previous legislature. This policy aims to activate long-term incapacitated individuals. The initiatives target not only employees, employers, and health insurance funds but also doctors.
Doctors are encouraged to share more data and focus on what a person can still do rather than their limitations. To ensure better follow-up, doctors can only prescribe sick leave one three-month period at a time in the first year of incapacity.
The government will scrutinise doctors’ prescriptions. “We will monitor the number and duration of prescribed sick notes to identify anomalies,” says Vandenbroucke’s office. If doctors show inconsistent prescribing behaviour, they will be warned initially and face financial penalties if the behaviour continues. Employers will also have a reporting system to flag suspected fraudulent sick notes.
To facilitate these measures, doctors’ sick notes will be stored in a database. Initially, it will include only sick notes lasting two weeks or more. By the end of the year, it will encompass all sick notes. From 1 July, paper sick notes will be prohibited.
Additionally, guidelines for the appropriate duration of incapacity will be provided for at least twenty more medical conditions. Currently, such guidelines exist for nine conditions.
