Cross-border data exchange
Movement of health data between Estonia and other European countries
In 2017 European countries (including Estonia) launched a project, which aims to implement sustainable exchange of cross-border health data in Europe.
The primary purpose is to launch two services concerning health data:
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Cross-border Patient Summary, which enables the healthcare professional in another country to see a summary of the most important medical data of the patient while providing this information in local language of the healthcare professional, thus contributing to the provision of effective and high-quality treatment. which enables the healthcare professional in another country to see a summary of the most important medical data of the patient while providing this information in local language of the healthcare professional, thus contributing to the provision of effective and high-quality treatment.
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Cross-border ePrescription, which enables the patient to buy the prescribed medicines in a pharmacy of another country and forward the information of dispensation to the prescription centre of the patient’s home country.
Cross-border Patient Summary
Cross-border ePrescription
Latest news and updates
Forwarding the summary of patient's health data Cross-border Patient Summary service makes it possible to transmit a summary of the patient's most important medical data to a healthcare worker professional in another country and to display these data translated into the local language to the healthcare professional, thus ensuring higher quality and more effective treatment.
A cross-border ePrescription allows the patient to buy the prescribed medication in another pharmacy in the country covered by the service and to transmit the sales dispensation information to the prescription centre of the patient's home country.
- 3.8.2023 press release: Cross-border health data exchange now available with Spain
- 6.3.2023 press release: Polish people can now buy their prescription drugs from Estonian pharmacies
- Article: About medical care and prescription drugs abroad
With which countries does data exchange currently work?
| Country | ePrescription service for Estonian citizens abroad | ePrescription service for foreign citizens in Estonia | Patient summary service for Estonian citizens abroad | Patient summary service for foreign citizens in Estonia |
| Croatia | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Czechia (list of pharmacies offering the service) | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Finland | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ |
| France | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Greece | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Latvia | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Lithuania | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Luxembourg | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Malta | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Netherlands | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Poland | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
|
Portugal (list of pharmacies offering the service) |
✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Spain (search menu for pharmacies offering the service; manual on how to use the search menu). NB! The following regions have not yet joined: La Rioja, Balearic Islands, Asturias. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Estonia ensures its citizens the forwarding of ePrescriptions and the Patient Summaries to other countries that have joined the service.
Estonian pharmacists can also dispense ePrescriptions and healthcare professionals can view the Patient Summaries of the citizens of other countries that have joined the service.
The data exchange is organised on a secure data exchange platform managed by the European Commission.
As of today, 25 European countries have joined the project and already have or are planning to implement the services in the upcoming years according to local national possibilities. The countries which are not yet participants of the project, may join the network in the upcoming years. The general goal is to launch a pan-European service.
Patient Information Notices (PINs)
A more detailed overview for the patient regarding the processing of their personal data when using the service is described in the patient information notices (PINs).
EST-2-MyHealth
Estonia is working on a project EST-2-MyHealth starting from November 2023.
The objective of theproject is:
- to ensure stable cross-border data exchange services, more especially the Patient Summary service by bringing it to new platform, which will enable a more reliable service and create better opportunities for any updates in the future;
- to improve the national allergy related data exchange standards to ensure allergy data for Patient Summary, which is currently incomplete;
- translation of the Orphanet rare disease nomenclature (ORPHAcode) as a new value set.
Project ends in November 2026.
Partners
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Healthcare providers
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