Health experts across Europe make recommendations on implementation of the European Health Data Space

Enhanced commitment, awareness, and collaboration are needed to maximise potential of the European Health Data Space, according to experts from across the European Union.

EIT Health Ireland-UK, a Co-location Centre of EIT Health, which is part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union, has launched a new Think Tank report titled “Implementing the European Health Data Space across Europe” during the EIT Health Summit which took place in Rotterdam. The report finds that enhanced commitment, awareness, and collaboration are needed to maximise the full potential of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Insights provided within the report are based on a series of 11 national roundtable discussions held throughout 2023, involving European leaders from public health, healthcare, and health data economics.

The EHDS sets out a data-sharing governance framework, designed to deliver an EU-wide system for citizens’ health data, with the aim of improving care across borders and boosting opportunities for research and innovation for the benefit of patients in Europe. The legislative proposal was adopted by the European Commission in May 2022, with political agreement on a draft legislative text recently agreed by the European Parliament and Council of the EU.

EIT Health’s new Think Tank report considers potential hurdles and proposes solutions under six dimensions of implementation:

1. Governance
2. Capacity and skills
3. Resources and funding
4. Data quality
5. Closing the loop: The relation between primary and secondary use
6. Awareness, education and communication: Towards a data-driven culture in healthcare

The report sets out that as Europe strives to strengthen its position as a global leader in healthcare innovation, it is imperative that adequate resources and funding are allocated to initiatives such as the EHDS to drive progress and improve the health and well-being of European citizens.

Experts involved in national roundtable events highlighted that significant financial commitment is required from both the European Commission and individual member states to support healthcare and infrastructure developments. The report advises national policymakers to commit to funding EHDS initiatives to ensure its success and maximise its impact on healthcare outcomes across Europe.

Overall, the EIT Health Think Tank report provides practical recommendations for the actors leading the transformation at local, national and EU levels to ensure a harmonised and inclusive European approach. Recommendations include:

• Setting out initiatives to ensure buy-in and cooperation of stakeholders across politics, healthcare, research, industry and civil society.
• Concerted public awareness-raising campaigns on the contents and rationale of the regulation, to highlight why data is critical to drive innovation in the sector.
• National health data access bodies to facilitate data traceability across research to foster trust in the new outputs and technologies to be fed back into healthcare.

The full report can be downloaded here.

EIT Health Ireland-UK published ‘Implementing the European Health Data Space in Ireland’ in November 2023. Find out what recommendations are set out to advance data sharing in Ireland.