MyHealth@EU in France: Ensuring continuity of care for patients across the EU

The MyHealth@EU initiative is a cornerstone in European healthcare, giving EU countries the possibility to exchange health data securely. In practice, the aim is the following: whenever EU citizens would need to access healthcare in other EU countries, be it for brief travel periods or study, MyHealth@EU would ensure that their care journey benefits from the available relevant information, such as Patient Summaries from the EU country of residence. To discover the initiative in more depth, the European Union provides detailed information about MyHealth@EU in several languages: Electronic cross-border health services – Public Health

The French Digital Health Delegation (DNS) within the Ministry of Health is fully committed to improving healthcare through digital innovation, together with the French eHealth Agency (ANS) which is the French national contact point for e-health.

MyHealth@EU in France: Action in Practice

France is an active member of MyHealth@EU since 2021. For this purpose, the ANS operates Sesali.fr, which connects France to the MyHealth@EU infrastructure. This service allows French healthcare professionals to access specific health data, like Patient Summaries, of European patients requesting care services in France: the requested data would be accessed securely and then transcoded and translated in French for healthcare professionals, ensuring a smoother healthcare journey abroad. To read more about Sesali.fr, you can consult the dedicated ANS webpage MyHealth@EU and Sesali | e-Health

France started connecting to the MyHealth@EU infrastructure in 2021. Sesali.fr connects France to MyHealth@EU and contributes to the safe and efficient exchange of health data across the EU.

MyHealth@EU and patient empowerment: the next steps for digital innovation

The MyHealth@EU infrastructure and its services seek to ensure the continuity of care for European citizens. Importantly, with the entry into force of EHDS (European Health Data Space) regulation, patients will be able to benefit more from secure and reliable digital innovation for health. For instance, ePrescription and eDispensation are set to be progressively made available within MyHealth@EU across all member states, allowing EU patients to obtain their medication whilst travelling in another EU country. Furthermore, citizen empowerment is enriched by the right to securely access their health data, with Member States needing to provide solutions allowing them to do so- in France, Mon Espace Santé is the dedicated patient health space which allows citizens to exercise such rights and access health documents.

To find out more about patient-centred digital innovation in France (Mon Espace Santé,Carte Vitale and France Identité), you can consult the following article: France’s Trusted Digital Health Ecosystem: Empowering Citizens and Enabling European Healthcare – myHealth@myHands

Author: Cristina Scutariu- French Ministry of Health, France