European health data space, Parliament-Council reach agreement. Toward a single EU prescription

Brussels -Access to health data for health workers that is automatic, fast, instantaneous, and easier access; increased possibilities for research purposes; And interoperability between national systems and health facilities. The EU moves toward reforming European health through the Agreement for a European Health Data Space. The EU Council and Parliament found the principle of inter-institutional agreement on the Commission’s proposal put on the table in May 2022, aiming to improve prevention, treatment, and research for all, promoting a single market for digital health services and products.

The proposal aims to eliminate barriers to access to health care and treatment. In practice, the new rules, once in place, aim to allow a Spanish tourist to pick up a prescription at a German pharmacy or for doctors to access the health information of a Belgian patient treated in Italy, the Belgian presidency of the EU Council explains. “The new law agreed today will allow patients to access their health data wherever they are in the EU,” Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgium’s minister for health and social affairs, stressed.

Under the new rules, expected to be in place as early as 2025, any European citizen will be guaranteed faster and easier access to electronic health data, regardless of whether they are in their home country or  another member state. Each member state will have to establish a digital health authority to implement the new provisions and ensure control and protection of information. Member states may enact stricter measures governing access to certain types of sensitive data, such as genetic data, for research purposes.

The interconnection and exchange of data will also provide researchers and policymakers access to specific types of secure health data, enabling them to exploit the vast potential EU health data provides to inform scientific research in the public interest. Towards this end, the proposed regulation requires that all electronic health record (EHR) systems comply with the specifications of the European format of exchange of electronic health records, ensuring that they are interoperable at the EU level.

Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides was pleased with the agreement: “The European Health Data Space is a game changing moment for health in Europe and for the care our citizens receive,” she said. “It will enable patients to share health data, such as their medical history, test results, or prescriptions with hospitals and medical practitioners within and across Member States, as they wish.”

The House and the Council will have to give the formal green light, but, in the meantime, a further step was taken toward that health union sought by the current Commission. “Our Health Union is built on cooperation, and the European Health Data Space will be one of the strongest and most emblematic examples of what we can achieve when we come together,” Kyriakides continued.