Open and trusted health data systems can help Europe respond to the
many urgent challenges facing its society and economy today. The
global pandemic has already altered many of our societal and
economic systems, and data has played a key role in enabling
cross-border and cross-sector collaboration in public health
responses.
Even before the pandemic, there was an urgent need to
optimise healthcare systems and manage limited resources more
effectively, to meet the needs of growing, and often ageing,
populations. Now, there is a heightened need to develop
early-diagnostic and health-surveillance systems, and more
willingness to adopt digital healthcare solutions.
The importance of secondary use of health data
This secondary use of health data can enable a wide range of benefits across the entire healthcare system. These include opportunities to optimise service, reduce health inequalities by better allocating resources, and enhance personalised healthcare –for example, by comparing treatments for people with similar characteristics. It can also help encourage innovation by extending research data to assess whether new therapies would work for a broader population.
Acknowledgements
This report was researched and produced by the Open Data Institute (ODI) and published in September 2021. The lead author is Mark Boyd. The wider project team includes Mahad Alassow, Dr Mahlet ‘Milly’ Zimeta, and Dr Jeni Tennison. This report is independent work by the ODI that was commissioned by Roche.