Explanatory Note on the terms 'Belegarzt', 'Belegbetten' and 'Belegkrankenhaus' :

In Germany, doctors working at a practice rather than a hospital whose patients need to undergo surgical treatment can, rather than referring them to a hospital, attend to them themselves, making use of the hospital's equipment and services under terms of a contract. The hospital then cares and is paid for the patients' accommodation and catering, while the doctor him-/herself is paid for the medical service. Such doctors are called 'Belegärzte', the hospitals agreeing to such contracts are 'Belegkrankenhäuser' (sometimes translated as 'open hospitals'), and the number of beds reserved for patients treated in this way are listed as 'Belegbetten'. This system is particularly useful for medical specialists whose treatment regularly calls for minor surgical operations (e.g. ear, nose and throat doctors, eye doctors etc.