Services for the cross-border secondary use of health data in Europe
The recent report of the joint action Towards the European Health Data Space (TEHDAS) identifies a minimum set of technical services required for the cross-border secondary use of health data for the European health data space (EHDS). The secondary use of health data involves using health data, such as patient records, for research, decision-making, and innovation.
The report describes the functions of each service and the actors involved in providing the service. The report also clarifies the main elements in relation to existing regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and with the aim of preparing it for the expected EHDS regulation proposal.
– The report offers new perspectives on the technical options for implementing key services for secondary use of health data. The envisaged EHDS is a federated peer-to-peer system that potentially could include some centralized services as well. Whether the services would be implemented in a centralized, distributed or a hybrid manner in the forthcoming European health data space will have an impact, for example, on how researchers find, request access to, and analyze health data in a European cross-border setting, says Senior Project Coordinator Helena Lodenius from CSC.
The report provides a basis for discussion on how these services could be implemented. TEHDAS will continue its work and issue a final report in early 2023.
Finland is a frontrunner in enabling the secondary use of health data. Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra coordinates and CSC ¬ -IT Center for Science is one of Finnish associate partners in the TEHDAS project.
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Joint action Towards the European Health Data Space (TEHDAS)
European health data space (EHDS)