In an exclusive French-language interview featured in Journal du Médecin, Dr. Revenco explains what the EHDS means in practice– from enhanced patient care and strengthened patients’ rights, to health data flow and the practical implications for healthcare professionals and hospitals.

The European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation entered into force on March 26, 2025, introducing a new legal framework to reshape the way health data is accessed, shared, and governed across European Union- with major implications for patients, clinicians, and healthcare institutions.

The implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation will follow a gradual, step-by-step transition, with several key milestone dates to note:

March 2027

Deadline for the European Commission will adopt implementing acts to lay down the technical specifications for the priority categories of personal electronic health data, establishing a European format for the exchange of electronic health records.

March 2029

Several core provisions of the EHDS Regulation will enter into application:

• For primary use (meaning patient’s care), all EU Member States must enable the exchange of a first group of health data categories, including patient summaries and ePrescriptions/eDispensations.
• For secondary use (for research), the relevant rules will begin to apply to most data categories, such as data from electronic health records.

March 2031

• For primary use, the second group of priority health data categories — including medical images, laboratory results, and hospital discharge reports — should be fully exchangeable across all EU Member States.
• For secondary use, rules will begin to apply to the remaining data categories, such as genomic data.

March 2034

Third countries and international organisations may begin to apply to join HealthData@EU for the purpose of secondary use of health data.
French-speaking readers can access the full article here.
 https://lejournaldumedecin.pmg.be/fr/fichier/EAKbe2540W23_00

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