The European Union wants to make it easier for people to access their prescriptions and health records online no matter where they are in the EU, under new plans to be unveiled next week.

The European Commission’s proposal for a European Health Data Space would create a central online system where all EU citizens can access their health data, according to internal draft documents seen by Bloomberg. The proposal could also improve researchers’ and policymakers’ access to data for developing medicines and health policies.

The European Health Data Space will "promote better exchange and access to different types of electronic health data, including electronic health records, genomics data, patient registries,” the draft said. There would be a primary use of data for patient care and a secondary use for research.

The proposal could face hurdles from EU countries which have historically been reluctant to share health data, often due to a lack of trust in each other countries’ health care systems and over concerns there could be a data breach.

Sharing Data

Certain EU countries are more advanced in digital health than others. Some like Denmark allow residents to easily access their health data with a central app, while others struggle to share data between regions or among health care systems in the same country.

Thanks to a 2011 EU rule, countries also can send health data across borders but the measure is voluntary and rarely used. Only some countries like Finland and Estonia have bilateral deals to exchange such data.

The European Health Data Space would ideally connect all these systems to make it easier for people, researchers and policymakers to get access to data - something that was an issue during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the commission.

"Such timely access would have contributed, through efficient public health surveillance and monitoring, to a more effective management of the pandemic, and ultimately would have helped to save lives,” the draft said.

Creating the European Health Data Space will cost between €700mil and €2.5bil , according to a commission impact assessment.

 - Bloomberg