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Can a GP or physiotherapist use AI at the front desk?
Yes, for the administrative work. An AI agent in a care practice answers, recognises the patient, books, moves or cancels the appointment types the practice opens to it, answers questions on hours, address and preparation with what the practice has written down, and leaves a summary. It says at the start that it is an AI.
It does no clinical work. It does not judge how urgent a complaint is, name a condition or advise on medicines. On a red flag it stops booking, reads out the practice’s rule and alerts a person. Tilcao runs in dental practices today; for a GP or physiotherapy practice we set it up on request. What an AI medical receptionist does, and what to ask one before signing, has a page of its own. You can hear it on the demo line of our example practice, +32 460 23 23 00.
How many GPs and physiotherapists does Belgium have?
On 31 December 2025, 19,418 recognised GPs and 45,867 physiotherapists living in Belgium had the right to practise. Among GPs 36.2% are 65 or older; among physiotherapists 17.9%.
RIZIV-INAMI counts who actually works: in 2024, 14,381 of 18,749 registered GPs were active, and 27,202 of 46,377 physiotherapists, active meaning more than one reimbursed service in the year. Physiotherapists mostly work alone: 84% of their full-time equivalents are in solo practice. For GPs it is 32%, and 58% work in a group, 69% in Flanders.
| On 31/12/2025 | Belgium | Flanders | Wallonia | Brussels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recognised GPs | 19,418 | 10,812 | 6,721 | 1,885 |
| Physiotherapists | 45,867 | 25,565 | 16,598 | 3,704 |
How many GPs and physiotherapists does each province have?
The province of Antwerp has the most GPs and physiotherapists, Luxembourg the fewest. Per inhabitant the picture changes: Walloon Brabant has 24.8 GPs and 68.8 physiotherapists per 10,000 inhabitants, Antwerp 14.5 and 32.7, against a Belgian average of 16.4 and 38.6. Here too the figures count where providers live, not where they work, and include people who stopped but kept the right to practise.
The same figures for dentists, with their age and the fee agreement, are in dentists by province.
| Province | GPs | Per 10,000 inhabitants | Physiotherapists | Per 10,000 inhabitants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antwerp | 2,804 | 14.5 | 6,318 | 32.7 |
| Flemish Brabant | 2,241 | 18.5 | 5,559 | 45.9 |
| East Flanders | 2,517 | 15.6 | 5,823 | 36.1 |
| West Flanders | 1,883 | 15.2 | 4,673 | 37.8 |
| Limburg | 1,367 | 15.0 | 3,192 | 35.1 |
| Brussels-Capital Region | 1,885 | 15.0 | 3,704 | 29.5 |
| Hainaut | 2,067 | 15.1 | 4,906 | 35.8 |
| Liège | 2,041 | 18.1 | 4,808 | 42.7 |
| Walloon Brabant | 1,035 | 24.8 | 2,870 | 68.8 |
| Namur | 1,085 | 21.4 | 2,416 | 47.7 |
| Luxembourg | 493 | 16.6 | 1,598 | 53.9 |
| Belgium | 19,418 | 16.4 | 45,867 | 38.6 |
What does an AI agent take over in a GP practice?
The work that fills the phone without needing a doctor. In November 2024 the Order of Physicians advised limiting and clearly defining the contact channels, informing patients with automatic messages and online booking, and not exchanging medical data by ordinary email. An agent that answers the phone and WhatsApp in one consistent way fits that advice. The advice says nothing about AI at the front desk.
- Booking, moving and cancelling appointments for the consultation types the practice opens.
- Noting the reason for the call in the patient’s own words, without assessing it.
- Answering practical questions: hours, home visits under the practice’s rule, what to bring.
- Sending reminders and acting on a cancellation, including offering the slot to another patient.
- On a red flag or out of hours, reading out the practice’s rule: the GP out-of-hours service on 1733, or 112 when life is at risk.
May an AI triage patients in a GP practice?
Not as a front-desk agent. Triage is clinical work: deciding how urgent something is and who should see the patient when. The European guidance MDCG 2019-11 counts appointment scheduling as software with no medical purpose, but software that assesses complaints or urgency can become a medical device, with CE marking and the rules that come with it.
Domus Medica, the Flemish GP association, lists triage and planning among AI uses in its 2026 AI plan, and sees AI as support, not a replacement for doctors or practice staff. Tilcao stays on the planning side: it notes, reads out the practice’s rule and hands over.
What does an AI agent take over in a physiotherapy practice?
In a solo practice nobody is at the desk: the physiotherapist treats and the phone rings. An agent answers, books the first appointment or the next session of a series, moves and cancels, and sends reminders. Physiotherapy has no out-of-hours service like GPs do, so it is almost always about scheduling and practical questions.
The practice software stays the record. Health insurers approve MyCareNet services package by package, and for physiotherapists eAgreement, eFact, eAttest and Member Data become compulsory on 1 January 2027. The approved list includes Crossuite, CareConnect Physiotherapist, KineQuick, Oxygen, Sophia, Hygie and Kiné Helper. Prescriptions, reimbursed sessions, missed sessions and direct access are set out on AI receptionist for physiotherapists.
Who answers out of hours? The GP service on 1733
1733 is the number for care that cannot wait until your GP is back but is not life-threatening: weekday evenings, weekends and public holidays. It works in a large part of Belgium; in some zones a menu puts you through to the GP out-of-hours post or the GP on call, in others to an emergency-centre operator who routes the call. When life is at risk, call 112.
A front-desk agent does not replace that service. Out of hours it reads out what the practice has set, repeats the number twice and logs the call for the next morning.
SourceFPS Public Health, Need a doctor on duty? Call 1733, updated 2 April 2026 (in Dutch)
Impulseo and telephone secretariats: what applies now?
In Flanders the Departement Zorg refunds half the cost of a telephone secretariat, up to €3,400 a year, but only to a GP who is starting out and for five years at most; it defines the service as at least an online diary and answering and triaging phone calls. On 2 October 2026 VRT reported that the Flemish budget agreement scraps the Impulseo support for GPs, and Domus Medica asked for clarity on 9 October; we found no official text with a date yet. In Wallonia AViQ refunds half, up to €3,700 indexed, and in Brussels Vivalis half, up to €4,835.43 (2025 amount).
No official page says whether an AI service counts as a telephone secretariat, so do not count on it before checking with your agency. What a medical telesecretariat in Belgium costs, region by region, is worked out on a page of its own.
How does a GP or physiotherapist start with Tilcao?
On request, with a conversation first. We look at your practice software, your appointment types and their length, your rule for urgent calls and your patients’ languages. Where your software allows a connection, it is set up and tested on your own installation before go-live; where it does not, Tilcao leaves your team a ready request.
The rules are the same as in a dental practice: Tilcao says it is an AI, assesses no complaint, and works under a processing agreement that names every subprocessor. How that is arranged is on security and GDPR.
Questions practices ask
May an AI receptionist triage patients in a GP practice?
Not as a receptionist. Triage is clinical work, and software that assesses complaints or urgency can become a medical device under the European guidance MDCG 2019-11. A front-desk AI notes the reason for the call, reads out the practice’s rule and points to 1733 or 112 where the practice has set that.
Does an AI service count as a telephone secretariat for Impulseo?
No official page says so. The Flemish Departement Zorg defines a telephone secretariat as at least an online diary plus answering and triaging calls, AViQ and Vivalis set their own conditions, and Flanders announced in October 2026 that Impulseo support will end. Check with your agency before counting on it.
Does Tilcao run in GP or physiotherapy practices today?
Tilcao runs in dental practices today. GPs, physiotherapists and other care practices can ask for a setup; we first look at their software, appointment types and rule for urgent calls before promising anything.
What does the Belgian Order of Physicians say about handling calls?
In its advice of 15 November 2024 the Order recommends limiting and clearly defining the contact channels, informing patients with automatic messages and online booking, and not exchanging medical data by ordinary email. The advice says nothing about AI at the front desk.
How many GPs and physiotherapists are there in Belgium?
On 31 December 2025, 19,418 recognised GPs and 45,867 physiotherapists living in Belgium had the right to practise, according to the HWF annual statistics 2025. RIZIV-INAMI counted 14,381 active GPs and 27,202 active physiotherapists in 2024.