Access to their medical history, tests, analyses and medicines throughout the EU will be granted to all European citizens, while scientists will have at their disposal valuable data for research and studies aimed at developing treatments and innovative medical or other equipment.
The Electronic Health Connection, the "European Health Data Space", is expected to be operational in 2025 and as announced yesterday by the competent European Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, "the collection of health data of 430 million citizens will fundamentally change the data, making the EU a world leader in technologies based on digital tools with a focus on citizens' health, research and innovation, evidence-based decision-making and competitiveness'.
The European Health Data Space will essentially be the digital pool for recording and collecting data that can be used, either by the citizens themselves for their own personal reasons during their own medical care in another EU member state or for their facilitation during their stay in another Member State- Member State, or by the EU itself centrally, but also by the Member States in particular, which, by proceeding with the necessary data analysis, will be facilitated in the decision-making for the implementation of programmes for the prevention or treatment of diseases and in the development of policies for the protection of public health on their territory.
Citizens:
They will have direct and detailed access to all their medical data which will be registered in their own electronic file and can be used by the doctor or healthcare professional or medical centre they want wherever they are in the EU. In other words, citizens will be able to share health data, for example, their medical history, test results or prescriptions with hospitals and doctors in whichever EU Member State they are in.
As Mrs Kyriakides characteristically mentioned:
>> "For example, if a person living in Portugal falls ill in Paris, a local doctor will be able to access his medical history in French and prescribe the right medicine. Unnecessary medical examinations do not need to be repeated, as these will be able to be digitally shared across the EU.
>> Similarly, if a cancer patient from Poland has to stay longer than expected in Helsinki for professional reasons but has finished the medicine prescribed by his oncologist in Greece, he will be able to take his prescription to a pharmacy in Helsinki and get the medicine he needs.
>> In the same way, the European Health Data Space will allow those who, for example, suffer from rare diseases, to have access to doctors in other Member States with all their medical data at their disposal, always in a safe manner."
Health professionals:
>> They will have immediate and full access to their patients' data as well as immediate and full access to health data for the whole of Europe.
Researchers:
>> They will have access to a huge amount of real-time health data and statistics to make it easier to conduct studies and surveys. They will secure data by saving resources and know about the quality of the data they process.
The industry:
>> By having direct access to health data and ensuring secure statistics and data, it will become more flexible and speed in terms of research and innovation or the promotion of studies to develop innovative therapies or equipment.
"A strong legal framework will be created that will allow researchers, institutions and industry to have access to combine and reuse health data. These data can lead, for example, to the development of new revolutionary, life-saving treatments, medicines, medical devices or next-generation antibiotics. Make progress in personalized medicine, develop innovative AI tools for health with high-quality data, or use them for government decisions during a pandemic. For European industry this means a market for electronic health records across the EU, with the same standards and specifications and the use of data to develop innovative medicines and devices."
The regulatory authorities/states:
>> Ensure immediate and complete access to health data at a lower cost and more documentation, which will facilitate the decision-making process for the implementation of health programs and the development of health policies in their territory.
€14 billion the cost of imaging tests only
With the functioning of the European Health Data Space, it is expected that billions of euros will be saved and spent every year on the repetition of diagnostic and other medical examinations and unnecessary patient visits to doctors and medical centres within the EU. According to the data provided by Mrs. Kyriakides, "it is estimated that every year approximately €14 billion is spent on medical images that are made, often repeating a procedure that has already been done elsewhere. Based on the data released, €5.5 billion will be saved over a decade from the exchange of information and health data while achieving a 20%-30% growth of the digital health market.
Data security and protection
As the European Commissioner explained, the security and protection of citizens' data must be considered certain. The European Health Data Space, "will give citizens full control over their data. They will be able to add information, correct mistakes, restrict access and learn which healthcare professionals have access to. When it comes to industry or researchers, permission will be required from national health data access bodies, and even then, only the data required for a particular project will be provided in a safe and controlled environment and will not allow for the identification of persons while ensuring complete anonymity."
