Belgian doctors call for obligatory global medical file

The Belgian Order of Physicians has asked public health minister Maggie De Block to require all patients to choose a regular doctor who maintains a global medical file for them, write the Mediahuis newspapers. De Block is opposed to the idea.

A global medical file, or dossier médical global (DMG), includes information on a patient's vaccination history, drugs and past medical interventions. The most important information is available online to other physicians to avoid problems during treatments.

But not everyone in Belgium has a regular doctor or DMG, which means that doctors do not always have access to critical information, such as a list of medications taken by the patient. This is especially troublesome in the case of an emergency.

Nevertheless, De Block does not want the DMG to become an obligation, as that would limit the patient's freedom to choose their doctor at any given time.