The shape of things to come for cross-border healthcare in the EU

The mobility of people within the European Union has increased massively in recent years. For example in 2020 there were 13.5 million Europeans living in a different EU country from their nation or origin. Consequently, it has been necessary to establish and ensure efficient cross-border healthcare for all citizens within the European Union.

In the next few years an organisation called the European Health Data Space (EHDS) will play a major role in this context, by facilitating the exchange of health information across borders, in a secure and integrated way. At the heart of the EHDS is the exchange of health information throughout the EU.

Two cross-border infrastructures of the European Health Data Space : MyHealth@EU, which is already operational, and HealthData@EU will play a key role in this process.

In Brussels we met with an eHealth expert, Licínio Kustra Mano, an Information Systems Agent, and Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety in order to understand their impact for health systems and patients. 

"MyHealth@EU enables health professionals to access essential information (across borders); for example, a pharmacist will need to access prescriptions issued in another country, a doctor in a hospital will need to have access to some essential information like allergies, vaccination records, past illness or current medication".

Medical records are translated into the healthcare professional's language. This allows any European citizen travelling through the European Union to receive care as if they were in their own country.

Under MyHealth@EU, the access to health data is possible through the National Contact Points (NCP), which will be gradually set up in all Member States, and the European Coordination Services,