EHDS: Europe's Bold Step Towards Secure and Interoperable Health Data
03/10/2025🌍 Unlocking the Future of Health Data with the EHDS
Promptly Health powers a connected, secure, and AI-ready data ecosystem across Europe.
🧭 What is the European Health Data Space (EHDS)?
The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is a flagship initiative of the European Union and the first EU-wide common data space dedicated to a specific sector - healthcare. It establishes a harmonised legal and technical framework for the use and exchange of electronic health data across the EU.
The EHDS has two main purposes:
Primary use of data (care delivery): It empowers individuals to securely access, control, and share their electronic health records across EU borders, ensuring continuity of care and patient mobility.
Secondary use of data (beyond care): It enables the secure and trustworthy reuse of health data for research, innovation, policy support, and regulatory activities.
In parallel, it fosters a single market for electronic health record (EHR) systems, driving interoperability, innovation, and the growth of digital health services and products. In essence, the EHDS is the EU’s mechanism to unlock the safe and efficient exchange and reuse of health data, benefiting patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, regulators, and innovators alike.
💡 Why the EHDS Matters
The EHDS lays the foundation for:
🧑⚕️ Empowered citizens — Gain fast, secure access and full control over their electronic health data, including cross-border sharing.
🏥 Improved healthcare — Healthcare professionals benefit from easier, interoperable access to patient records, reducing administrative burden.
🔬 Accelerated research & AI innovation — Access large-scale, high-quality datasets through a structured, cost-efficient system.
🌐 Health Technology Assessment — Obtain transparent, cost-effective data access to improve healthcare systems and safeguard public health.
💻 Digital transformation — Leverage standardisation and anonymised datasets to access new markets and drive innovation.
🤝 Promptly Health: A Trusted Enabler of the EHDS Vision
Promptly Health plays a leading role in translating EHDS principles into real-world action.
✅ Flagship Contribution:
Governance and Trust Gateway for Federated Health Networks
Through this EHDS-aligned project, Promptly:
🚀 Built a federated learning framework that allows data analysis while keeping sensitive data secure within hospitals
🔐 Developed a “digital vault” infrastructure for privacy-preserving collaboration
🏥 Ran successful pilots with academic hospitals using data on RSV, influenza, and COVID-19
📊 Enabled real-time insights without compromising data security
In collaboration with:
Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) — Data protection and compliance expertise
ULS Coimbra & ULS Santo António — Testing in clinical, real-world settings
TrustChain Consortium — Ensuring alignment with EHDS governance standards
🧠 How Promptly Supports the EHDS Framework
We enable secure and scalable data collaboration by:
Supporting federated analytics across EU health systems
Facilitating data quality and harmonisation frameworks
Creating AI-ready, privacy-first environments for secondary data use
Driving forward EHDS-compliant research infrastructures in public-private partnerships
Promptly is actively involved in major EU-funded initiatives like:
🧬 ONCATS — Advancing oncology research through federated RWD
🧮 EHDEN — Promoting real-world evidence through common data models
🔮 Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, the EHDS is set to transform healthcare in Europe by unlocking the full potential of health data. It is expected to deliver €11 billion in savings over the next decade through better data accessibility, enhance efficiency across healthcare systems, expand the digital health sector by up to 30%, and strengthen evidence-based policymaking. By enabling secure cross-border access to medical records, EHDS will improve diagnosis and treatment and support data-driven innovation. At the same time, it will accelerate digital transformation by fostering interoperable EHRs, empowering patients with control over their data, and promoting the adoption of telemedicine and personalised care solutions. In doing so, EHDS lays the foundation for a more innovative and patient-centred European healthcare system.
Promptly Health is proud to help shape that future.
📣 Let’s Build the Future Together
🔍 Explore how Promptly Health powers EHDS-ready collaboration.
