BMJ 2022; 377 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o1133 (Published 05 May 2022) Cite this as: BMJ 2022;377:o1133
Rory Watson
“The European Commission is looking to digitise all medical records in the European Union by 2025 to make it easier for individuals to access and share their personal data with medical professionals throughout the 27 member bloc, particularly when in another country.
“In what is being termed the European Health Data Space, the raw data would also be available for scientific research, subject to strict conditions.
“Presenting the plan, Stella Kyriakides, European commissioner for health and food safety, said, “It places the citizens at its centre, empowering them with full control over over their data to obtain better healthcare across the EU."
Europe has 742 million citizens. The USA allows all citizens to see their records through the USA Cures Act 206. That is another 330 million citizens making a total of over 1 billion citizens - 14% of the world’s population.
Why does it matter? Because building health and managing disease is like building and servicing a house.
To build a house requires materials, knowledge, skills, time and application. To build health requires information and knowledge about oneself, about one’s diseases, general information, skills and application. It is not surprising now that digital health and mobile technology is so prevalent - that 14% of the world’s population (perhaps more) can access their own medical records. With an 18 million shortage of health care workers and frequent health service inequities, giving patients their own health data and the tools to manage their health, immediate care, continuing care and preventative care seems to be an obvious action. It is a culture change of basic assumptions, values, norms and artefacts just as gender equality is.
HIFA profile: Richard Fitton is a retired family doctor - GP. Professional interests: Health literacy, patient partnership of trust and implementation of healthcare with professionals, family and public involvement in the prevention of modern lifestyle diseases, patients using access to professional records to overcome confidentiality barriers to care, patients as part of the policing of the use of their patient data
Email address: richardpeterfitton7 AT gmail.com
