The breakthrough: European Health Data Space and the Long-Awaited Interoperability

? Reflecting on a moment in 1997, amidst my journey as a student studying medical informatics, I found myself in an unexpected setting - interviewing for a student job in the back of a car. As I passionately shared my vision of an interconnected Europe, where health records seamlessly flowed in and out, the world was more analog at that time. Later, I learned that in 1997 the brand new Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin was the first fully digitized radiology department in Germany.

-> Interoperability is in reality a custom project

In my first role, I had the opportunity to work alongside the gifted Jack Harrington, one of the contributors to #HL7 V2.x. In my daily reality, even on the same protocol versions, every piece of interoperability was a custom interface.?At least #DICOM was straightforward.

-> Different approaches in Europe are moving further apart

HL7's CDA L2 what we discussed in the German HL7 user group sounded like science fiction in 2005. Then 10 years later, CDA L2 appeared magically on my scope list to comply with Austrian #EHR #ELGA while Germany's Kassen?rztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV) introduced a new version of its proprietary lab data interface (LDT) while Austria's Lab data built up on HL7, Loinc and UCUM.?

-> Germany did not join Snomed CT until 2021

To bridge gaps in Health Terminology Standards, IHTDSO (now Snomed International) started in 2007 with 9 founding charter Members Australia, Canada, Denmark, Lithuania, Sweden, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Snomed CT became a requirement in those founding countries that drove international adoption further. I enjoyed applying the power of NLP to detect relevant Snomed clinical terms for reporting and billing. But marketing of this product was only available in participating IHTDSO member states. Now, Snomed International has grown to 48 members, including Germany. Yay!?

?

For many years I closely followed European initiatives like GAIA-X and the European Health Data Space, recognising their potential to revolutionise healthcare across borders. Last week Friday marked a significant milestone as the European Parliament paved the way for the European Health Data Space, a long-awaited step towards a more connected and data-driven healthcare ecosystem:

The Council and the?European Parliament?reached a provisional agreement on the European health data space. The new EU law will make it possible to:?

• exchange and access health data across the EU?
• make certain anonymised data available for research and innovation

Target: Better access, exchange and use of health data is expected to?save the EU around EUR 11 billion?over 10 years.?

Use Cases (Link):?

• "A doctor in Denmark will be able to access the?medical records?of a Portuguese citizen who fell ill while on holiday in Copenhagen." - this was the vision, I had in mind in 1997 in the back of this car..
• "A German patient will be able to buy?medicines?prescribed by her regular doctor in a Croatian pharmacy."
• "The initiative will also benefit the?research community and legislators. Certain anonymised health data will be made available to scientists and policymakers for?research and innovation?purposes, with the goal of improving treatments and patient care."

Additional ambition connected to the proposed EHDS (Extract)

Extract

• A cybersecure society?- A new EU cyber resilience act intends to make hacking connected devices much more difficult
• A data-powered European Economy - The EU institutions are currently working on the?Data Act, the first EU law to?govern the use of data generated by the Internet of Things?for industrial and commercial purposes.
• A secure digital identity for everyone - The EU institutions agreed to make the?European digital identity wallet?available?to everyone. Thanks to an app for mobile devices, you will have all your identity documents with you at all times.
• A trustworthy artificial intelligence?- The Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) will ensure that the AI solutions?used in the European Union?are ethical and respect our privacy?and fundamental European values. All of this without undermining competitiveness and allowing businesses in the EU to make full use of the potential of AI technologies.

What's next?

Now that the European Health Data Space is a reality, the pressing question arises: What's next? The speed at which countries converge and overcome the challenges posed by national proprietary systems will determine the success of this initiative. Interconnecting disparate systems, especially those built on proprietary frameworks, presents a significant hurdle. The urgency lies in finding innovative solutions to ensure seamless integration and maximize the benefits of this new era of data sharing in healthcare.

What are your thoughts? How can we leverage the EHDS best to its full potential?

#EHDS #Interoperability #HealthcareDataExchange #Healthcare?#EU?#Innovation #HealthData?#GAIAX #OpenEHR #FHIR #HL7