The determinants of defensive medicine practices in Belgium.

In 2010 the Belgian government introduced a low cost administrative procedure for compensating medical injuries to overcome the major shortcomings of the existing tort system. This paper examines, for the first time, to what extent this reform had an impact on physician specialists' defensive practices and what are the relevant determinants affecting physicians' clinical decision making. Based on a survey of 508 physicians, we find evidence of a relatively modest increase in defensive practices among physicians in various specialties.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Belgian not-only-fault system for medical incidents.

In 2010, the Belgian compensation system for medical incidents was reformed, in order to overcome some important deficiencies of court procedures. This resulted in a not-only-fault compensation system, following the establishment of the Fund for Medical Accidents (FMA). This paper seeks to clarify the main advantages and disadvantages of this reform.

The impact of no-fault compensation on health care expenditures: an empirical study of OECD countries.

Around the world, governments are faced with spiralling health care expenditures. This raises the need for further insight in the determinants of these expenditures. Existing literature focuses primarily on income, ageing, health care financing and supply variables.