OpenEvidence in Belgium: is it available, and what do Belgian doctors use instead? (2026)

DR. INFO and OpenEvidence, side by side

How DR. INFO compares with OpenEvidence

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenEvidence available in Belgium in 2026?

No. OpenEvidence terminated app access in the EU and the UK on 28 April 2026, and access from Belgian and other European addresses has been blocked since. The company cited regulatory uncertainty around European AI rules. No return date has been announced.

Is there a Dutch or French version of OpenEvidence?

No. OpenEvidence never answered in Dutch or French and had no interface in a Belgian national language; its sources were US-oriented. DR. INFO answers in the language you ask in, so in Dutch or French, and the product itself is available in Dutch.

Does the OpenEvidence app still work in Belgium?

No. The app can be installed, but sign-in and access from EU addresses have been blocked since April 2026, in the app and in the browser alike. DR. INFO works in the browser at app.drinfo.ai and on the iPhone app, from Belgium without workarounds.

When will OpenEvidence come back to Belgium?

There is no date. The withdrawal was tied to European AI regulation, whose obligations for medical AI phase in through 2027, so a return would be a decision by the company rather than a technical fix. A clinician who needs a cited answer today is better off not waiting for it.

Why did OpenEvidence leave Europe?

OpenEvidence withdrew from the EU and the UK together, citing uncertainty about European AI regulation, including the EU AI Act. Commentary in the medical press has treated the move as a sign of the regulatory divide between US health AI and European rules ^[8].

What do Belgian doctors use instead of OpenEvidence?

Two kinds of tool. The Belgian references: ebpracticenet, where the guidelines of Domus Medica, the SSMG and the primary care guideline working group come together in Dutch and French ^[3], the commented drug formulary of the BCFI ^[4] and the reports of the KCE ^[5], all written to be consulted. And DR. INFO, a European clinical AI that answers a clinical question with citations you can open, hosts data in the EU, and includes a scribe and discharge letter drafting.

Is DR. INFO the best OpenEvidence alternative for Belgian doctors?

For a clinician who wants what OpenEvidence did, a cited written answer to a clinical question, DR. INFO is the closest fit that can be used from Belgium: it retrieves guidelines and literature for each question, cites every statement, hosts data in the EU, answers in Dutch or French and scored 0.72 against OpenEvidence's 0.49 on HealthBench Hard.

How does DR. INFO cite its answers?

Each answer is written from documents retrieved for that question, and each statement carries a citation that opens the source: a guideline, a peer reviewed paper, or an FDA or EMA drug document. That makes the answer checkable in the way a colleague's summary is not. In a prospective pilot study published in Cureus in 2026, physicians using DR. INFO at the point of care rated that traceability as part of its value ^[9].

Can DR. INFO answer questions about Belgian guidelines?

The guidelines on ebpracticenet and the KCE reports are public documents, so DR. INFO can be asked about them and cites the source it used in the answer; with the country set to Belgium, national recommendations are preferred, and European guidelines from bodies such as the ESC and ESMO are always included. Coverage is broad but not complete for any organisation. DR. INFO is not affiliated with ebpracticenet, Domus Medica, the SSMG or the KCE, and the current guideline on their websites remains the version to rely on.

Does DR. INFO also work in French for colleagues in Wallonia and Brussels?

Yes. DR. INFO answers in the language of the question, so a question in French gets an answer in French, with the same sources. This page is also available in Dutch; the product itself works the same way for French-speaking colleagues.

Where is the data hosted, and what does that mean for a Belgian practice?

DR. INFO is hosted in the European Union under GDPR, which in Belgium is enforced by the Data Protection Authority. Whether a tool may be used with identifiable patient data remains a decision for each practice, hospital and group, with professional secrecy under article 458 of the Criminal Code in mind. Asking a clinical question without patient identifiers does not transfer health data; for anything beyond that, the data protection officer is the right person to ask.

Is DR. INFO free for doctors in Belgium?

There is a free tier for doctors, doctors in training and medical students, with paid plans for heavier use. It works in the browser at app.drinfo.ai and on the iPhone app, from Belgium without restriction.

Does using DR. INFO count towards accreditation?

No. DR. INFO is a working tool for daily practice, not a recognised continuing education activity. Accreditation points in Belgium come only from activities recognised by the RIZIV/INAMI accreditation steering group. What DR. INFO contributes is the path to the guideline or the study behind an answer; the reading and learning remain yours.

Is DR. INFO a certified medical device?

Yes. DR. INFO is CE marked under EU MDR 2017/745 ^[10], which applies directly in Belgium with the FAMHP as the competent authority, and is developed and operated by Synduct GmbH in Munich.

References

1. 1.Breaking: OpenEvidence app access terminated in the UK and EU. Telehealth and Telecare Aware. 28 April 2026.
2. 2.The US-based medical search engine OpenEvidence is down in Europe: a commentary on regulatory complexities. Intelligence-Based Medicine. 2026.
3. 3.ebpracticenet. Het Belgische portaal voor evidence-based practice: richtlijnen in het Nederlands en het Frans.
4. 4.Belgisch Centrum voor Farmacotherapeutische Informatie (BCFI). Gecommentarieerd Geneesmiddelenrepertorium.
5. 5.Federaal Kenniscentrum voor de Gezondheidszorg (KCE). Rapporten en richtlijnen.
6. 6.Ravichandran S, Kumar S, Corga Da Silva R, Romano M, et al. OpenAI’s HealthBench in Action: Evaluating an LLM-Based Medical Assistant on Realistic Clinical Queries. arXiv:2509.02594. 2026.
7. 7.Arora RK, Wei J, Soskin Hicks R, et al. HealthBench: Evaluating Large Language Models Toward Improved Human Health. OpenAI. 2025.
8. 8.OpenEvidence exits Europe, highlighting divide in health AI rules. Telehealth.org. 2026.
9. 9.Corga Da Silva R, Romano M, Mendes T, et al. DR. INFO at the Point of Care: A Prospective Pilot Study of Physician-Perceived Value of an Agentic Artificial Intelligence Clinical Assistant. Cureus. 2026.
10. 10.Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council on medical devices (EU MDR). Official Journal of the European Union. 2017.