EAU showcases Uro Evidence Hub at BioMed Alliance event

The UroEvidenceHub is the EAU’s flagship initiative to drive the use of real world data which will optimise research and innovation in urological care, along with our ability to develop evidence based, personalized clinical practice guidelines for patients. The UroEvidenceHub is coming into fruition at a point where a major piece of legislation has just been agreed, which aims to facilitate access to digital health records, and the secondary use of data for research, policy making and regulatory purposes – the European Health Data Space (EHDS). This Regulation will come into force early next year, and mandate Digital Health authorities in the EU to ensure the provision of Electronic Health Records for EU citizens (to be used when they travel within the EU) and to create national Health Data Access Bodies that will allow the secondary use of data.

The EAU has been closely following these developments, with the understanding that both the Uro Evidence Hub and the EHDS have similar aims and recognizing that the lessons we have learned from PIONEER and OPTIMA give us useful insights for EU Regulators on how to best involve medical associations like EAU and healthcare professionals in the successful implementation of the EHDS.

In the morning session, which was an internal meeting of the Biomed Alliance’s health data taskforce, chaired by EAU Policy Manager Sarah Collen, Phil shared EAU’s experience of building the UEH and our aspirations for the future, acknowledging that for the time being our focus is on Prostate Cancer.  We discussed with other medical societies about the opportunities and challenges posed by the Regulation. We also delved into our common understanding of what could be promoted as good collaboration of the planned EHDS Stakeholder Forum with medical societies, and what healthcare professionals will need in terms of capacity building to ensure effective implementation.

In the afternoon, a public meeting was held where a speaker from the European Commission presented the Regulation on the EHDS that has been agreed and with some insights on future implementation timelines. The meeting also heard from the French Health Data Hub, and the UEH, including feedback from patients and industry stakeholders. As well as Phil Cornford and Sarah Collen, the EAU was represented by Peter Paul Willemse, Hein Van Poppel and Elena Plana.