Unlocking the Power of Interoperability: Key Takeaways from Our 3rd Webinar on Building the European Health Data Space!

We are pleased to share that our 3rd webinar on 20 September 2023 titled ‘Building the European Health Data Space: Leveraging EEHRxF for Secondary Data use in the EHDS’ covered insights from health managers, researchers and policymakers on the topic of interoperability of electronic health data.

Here is a summary of the key insights and discussions from the event.

Moderator Dr Maria Manuel Salazar​ from the Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Santo António in Portugal ​guided the conversation, ensuring a comprehensive exploration of the topics at hand.

Our distinguished speakers included:

Prof André Peralta Santos, Acting Deputy Director-General of Health in the Directorate-General for Health in Portugal

Dr Niklas Blomberg​, Director of Elixir, the European Infrastructure for Bioinformatics and life-science data​

Dr Andrzej Ryś, Principal Scientific Advisor, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission

Benefits and Challenges to harmonising health data collection across borders for research purposes:

The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is reshaping healthcare policies and unlocking the potential for coordinated responses.  Initiatives like the vaccination digital certificate, demonstrate how rapid coordinated European responses are possible due to access to harmonised data from European countries. The EHDS regulation promises structured data availability for researchers and industry players, to enhance research, and innovation to fuel healthcare insights and AI-driven medical device development. However, challenges exist. These include designing a digital health authority that is harmonious while EU member states health systems are heterogeneous. Additionally, variable data maturity levels, concerns about access fees, workforce capacity, and litigation concerns linked to limited data access institutions are hurdles to keep in mind. Essential for maximising the EHDS’s impact on European healthcare and competitiveness will be ensuring consistent data access, managing costs, and making essential investments in health systems.