European health data space: Unlocking healthcare innovation through open data
Explore how combining open data and health data can empower citizens, improve care, and drive research
The European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation, now in force, marks a major step forward in how health data is accessed and reused across the EU. A new report published on the European Data Portal explores the impact of the EHDS and its interaction with the Open Data Directive (ODD), highlighting how these two frameworks can work together to benefit patients, healthcare providers, policymakers and researchers.
The EHDS enables secure access to personal health data for care and research, while the ODD promotes the reuse of public sector data, including aggregated health statistics. Together, they create new opportunities for data-driven innovation. The report presents real-world use cases, such as a patient using open data to find shorter waiting times abroad, and researchers in France combining environmental noise data with prescription data to study sleep health. These examples show how open and protected data can be combined to improve healthcare outcomes and inform policy.
Open data plays a foundational role in this ecosystem. By linking EHDS data with datasets available on platforms like the European Data Portal, stakeholders can build smarter tools, improve transparency, and support personalised care. However, challenges remain: patients and healthcare providers often lack the tools and skills to combine data, and policymakers need support to make full use of these resources.
This report calls for increased data literacy, better integration of tools into healthcare systems, and continued monitoring of EHDS implementation. As the EHDS evolves, combining it with open data will be key to building a more inclusive, innovative and data-driven healthcare system across Europe. You can read the full report on our website to explore these insights and learn more about how open data and the EHDS are shaping the future of healthcare in Europe.
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