The EU has agreed on an electronic patient record. However, this hardly offers any scope for objection and above all helps companies.

Who is listening? The EU patient file aims to make health data accessible throughout the EU Photo: Maurizio Gambarini/dpa

Anyone who only goes to the family doctor once a year for a cold, gets regular checkups, and can otherwise stay away from appointments is probably thinking: What will happen if health data is digitized and multiple actors can access them?

Aside from the fact that this approach is quite risky, not everyone has the privilege of easy-to-care for long-term health and the data economy that accompanies it. There may be a diagnosis of exhaustion or an abortion, chronic back pain, or HIV medication in the record.

According to the EU agreement, data should be stored in the European “data room” from 2025. With access throughout Europe not only for other doctors, but also for research and industry, healthcare providers and The authorities. The data may be transferred to European countries and, through rerouting, to non-European countries.

A good idea? Sure: for everyone looking for more data that can be converted into money for economic growth. Perhaps one day a hitherto unknown medical causality or the focus of a new therapy can be extracted from the collected data. That's not safe. But one thing is clear: health data should be monetized here. It is also clear that patients will lose track of who has accessed what data of theirs and what they are doing with it.

European unification is even more disappointing because Germany, for once, has slightly better legislation here. This still provides for an electronic patient record for all those who do not object. But at least, in addition to a fundamental objection, it is also possible to say no to the processing of individual data in a comparatively detailed way.

EU rules, on the other hand, are full of exceptions. Public interest, trade secrets, intellectual property protection? There is no possible no. A good plan for the industry, a bad one for patients.