BIO Deutschland and the “eHealth” alliance of associations call for improved access to health data for the research-based healthcare sector

In view of the current parliamentary discussions on the German Patient Data Protection Act (PDSG), BIO Deutschland, together with the seven associations of the “eHealth” alliance, has published a paper with the central demand that not only research institutes but also the research-based healthcare sector must have transparent access to research data.

In the draft Patient Data Protection Act, the legal basis for voluntary data release via electronic health records (EHRs) was provided for the first time – but only for public research. The development of data-based healthcare applications by the research-based healthcare sector is thus severely limited from the outset – to the detriment of patients and of Germany as a location for innovation. The associations stress in their paper that “access to and use of heterogeneous health data for the industrial healthcare sector enables more efficient, safer and more patient-oriented care.”