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Patient registries are a valuable source of real-world data (RWD)
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Data Saves Lives

Home
Health Data
Overview
What is health data?
What is big data?
Why is health data important?
Data protection
About
What is Data Saves Lives
Editorial Board
Advisory Board
Secretariat
Core Strategy Organisations
Governance and Editorial Principles
#DataSavesLives
Contact
Case studies
Introduction
Patient registries are a valuable source of real-world data (RWD)
Using real world data (RWD)
Using National Cancer Registry data
Alzheimer's Disease
Colorectal Cancer
Liver Disease
Big data
How mHealth platforms can provide pro-active and patient-driven follow-up care
Toolkits
Blog
Events
Resources
Overview
Case Studies
Public Surveys
Glossary
Videos
Blog
Featured
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Apr 29, 2025
Cybersecurity: An essential investment for protecting hospitals and patient safety
Apr 29, 2025
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Apr 29, 2025
DSL 5th Anniversary Event: A summary report
Mar 24, 2025
DSL 5th Anniversary Event: A summary report
Mar 24, 2025

In November 2024, Data Saves Lives celebrated its five-year anniversary event in Brussels. The two-day event provided an opportunity to reflect on the DSL journey of empowering health communities through data literacy. It brought together key stakeholders to discuss the progress made and explore the future of health data sharing in healthcare.

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Mar 24, 2025
The EHDS Regulation and its implications for patients
Feb 6, 2025
The EHDS Regulation and its implications for patients
Feb 6, 2025

The EHDS Regulation is coming into force in late March 2025. It has the potential to empower patients in the European Union to access their health data, as well as harness the research potential of health data. 

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Feb 6, 2025
Health democracy for health data in France
Jan 20, 2025
Health democracy for health data in France
Jan 20, 2025

Access to healthcare data has been a major concern for patients and healthcare users’ associations for many years in France. As far back as 2008, when France Assos Santé set up a national task force dedicated to digital healthcare, the exploitation of the French National Healthcare Data System was already on our agenda. This fall, we have reached a new milestone with the launch of a new service in collaboration with the Health Data Hub, a significant step in our commitment to enable access to healthcare data and its uses.

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Jan 20, 2025
Celebrating five years of impact
Dec 13, 2024
Celebrating five years of impact
Dec 13, 2024

The Data Saves Lives (DSL) 5th Anniversary event, held on 26-27 November 2024, in Brussels, Belgium, brought together key stakeholders from across Europe's health landscape to explore the progress, challenges, and future of responsible health data sharing.

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Dec 13, 2024
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Nov 13, 2024
Towards a patient-centric healthcare system: A focus on Electronic Health Records
Nov 13, 2024

Healthcare systems are becoming increasingly dependent on information and communication technologies to deliver quality care to European Union (EU) citizens. As the volume of collected healthcare data expands, the need for transitioning from traditional paper-based to digitalised health records is clear. 

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Nov 13, 2024
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Jan 5, 2024
DSL x EHDEN Patient Registries Bootcamp
Jan 5, 2024

On 5-6 December 2023, the third Data Saves Lives Ambassador Training Bootcamp was held in Brussels, Belgium, in partnership with the European Health Data & Evidence Network (EHDEN). The bootcamp centred on the process of establishing community-led patient registries. The ultimate aim was to empower participants with insights into the steps involved and the pivotal role of patient groups in shaping registry design for community benefit.

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Jan 5, 2024
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Sep 5, 2023
Empowering our members with the knowledge needed to embrace a brave new digital world
Sep 5, 2023

Digestive Cancers Europe (DiCE) is a non-profit, European umbrella organisation of a large group of international members representing patients with digestive cancers - colorectal, gastric, oesophageal, liver, pancreatic, and rare cancers.

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Sep 5, 2023
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Sep 4, 2023
The promising future of health data and AI: the role of patient groups
Sep 4, 2023

Health data and artificial intelligence (AI) undoubtedly hold a promising future within the realm of technology and research, with the potential to have a substantial impact on patients’ lives.

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Sep 4, 2023
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May 11, 2023
What’s the greatest untapped resource in healthcare right now? Hint: you’re probably holding it on your phone
May 11, 2023

Madeleine Brady, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patient, Engagement Consultant and formerly a comms lead for Health Outcomes Observatory (H2O), presents a personal view on the impact of H2O on patients.

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May 11, 2023
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May 8, 2023
Concentric Circles View (CCV) – What does this mean for how we protect patients when using their health data
May 8, 2023

In September 2022 Frontiers in Big Data published the paper “A concentric circles view of health data relations facilitates understanding of sociotechnical challenges for learning health systems and the role of federated data networks”.

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May 8, 2023
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Apr 17, 2023
DSL Ambassador Training Bootcamp
Apr 17, 2023

On 28-29 March 2023, the second ever Data Saves Lives Ambassador Training Bootcamp was held on the top of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Lisbon, Portugal. The purpose was to equip regional and national level organisations with a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges presented by the use of AI in healthcare and the potential role of patient groups in influencing the design and use of AI to improve the lives of their members. This blog gives an insight into the hot topics that were discussed as well as a summary of the key insights.  

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Apr 17, 2023
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Apr 4, 2023
The importance of having data at our fingertips to guide us through a crisis
Apr 4, 2023

How learning networks helped people with chronic conditions make sense of what was going on in pandemic times

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Apr 4, 2023
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Feb 14, 2023
Lucas
Feb 14, 2023

‘Even though we accept what Lucas has, we want him to have the best life possible – free from seizure and pain. That’s why sharing health data and taking part in clinical research is so important to us’  

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Feb 14, 2023
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Feb 3, 2023
How understanding data protection and collection techniques deepened our understanding of the prevalence of chronic pain
Feb 3, 2023

We take our mission to be the patient's voice seriously, and know that to be effective we need to be objective. Having good data to support our arguments when dealing with policymakers is crucial.

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Feb 3, 2023
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Jan 24, 2023
Data sharing with carers of individuals suffering severe mental ill health: A nuanced view
Jan 24, 2023

The process of recovery from severe mental ill health is by nature complicated. Like with severe physical ill health, there are often multiple and unknown causes, meaning the process of treatment is rarely straightforward.

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Jan 24, 2023
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Nov 23, 2022
Reflections on our Ambassador Training Bootcamp - #DataSavesLives
Nov 23, 2022

In October 2022, we hosted our very first Data Saves Lives Ambassador Training Bootcamp in Prague, Czech Republic. The purpose was to equip regional and national level organisations with practical tools and tips on how to advocate for and have informed dialogue around health data sharing. This blog gives an insight into the hot topics that were discussed as well as a summary of the key insights.

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Nov 23, 2022
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Sep 15, 2022
A cross-hemisphere quest in the name of health data
Sep 15, 2022

In our latest blog, Clara Heathcock, Chronic Urinary Tract patient, shares her personal experience of falling ill in a country where her disease was not recognised, and the importance of health data coding in identifying conditions and appropriately treating them.

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Sep 15, 2022
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Jul 28, 2022
How can we support the patient data journey throughout the healthcare system to build public trust?
Jul 28, 2022

For those that were fortunate enough to be able to join us at the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) Congress in Brussels at the end of June, the Data Saves Lives team explored this title question with a highly engaged group of delegates.

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Jul 28, 2022
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Jul 6, 2022
Making patient registries work for patients – accessing data to drive better outcomes
Jul 6, 2022

As experience and research continues to develop, we see that the ability to access data affects not only the patient’s ability to look after themselves, but also their relationships with their clinical team and with their own illnesses and comorbidities. A shift to being empowered begins at the point of diagnosis, with a collaborative and interactive relationship between patients and healthcare professionals, which empowers patients to take on responsibility for their condition with the appropriate clinical support.

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Jul 6, 2022
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Apr 26, 2022
Patient driven insights are the key to unlocking the future of m-health development
Apr 26, 2022

Looking to design a health app? Companies are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of involving patients in the development process of new applications. Read on as a member of the - Gravitate-Health UAG shares experiences of using digital health tools, including thoughts on what aspects work well and not so well from a patient’s perspective.

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Apr 26, 2022
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Mar 23, 2022
Mind the Gap: The importance of measuring inequalities in healthcare
Mar 23, 2022

Unfair and systematic differences in healthcare between different demographic groups have led to avoidable health inequalities. The collection of health data gives us the opportunity to address the gaps, but do we really have the full picture?

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Mar 23, 2022
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Mar 10, 2022
The benefits of a Personal Health Record [PHR]
Mar 10, 2022

Data does save lives, but information quality is paramount to achieve successful outcomes and this, in my experience, cannot be achieved if patients are not full partners and agents in their care, using the right tool to do this.

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Mar 10, 2022
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Dec 14, 2021
What happened this year? And what is next?
Dec 14, 2021

This year was really full with news and resources about health data sharing. The European Health Data Space became more and more focused and discussed. Additionally, patients and citizens started to become more interested in health data sharing. Nevertheless, it became clear again that there is a significant need for more information and education around the topic too.

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Dec 14, 2021
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Oct 4, 2021
Can you walk in my shoes? – decision makers and their influence on patient lives
Oct 4, 2021

Often when we buy new shoes, we have to learn to walk in them – a process that is long and sometimes, uncomfortable. If you hadn’t walked in my shoes, you wouldn’t know what they truly felt like. The reason I use this shoe analogy is because it’s a phrase often used by people living with chronic conditions: “You can’t walk in my shoes!”

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Oct 4, 2021
Sep 20, 2021
Involving the public across the spectrum of health data usage
Sep 20, 2021

I recently co-led a virtual workshop for patients and the public about future opportunities and factors that influence acceptance of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). The EHDS is a new initiative of the European Commission for a portal of health data resources across Europe. The initiative is still in an open consultation phase. The EHDS aims to accelerate research which uses health data, and to enable individuals to have access to their own health records across borders.

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Sep 20, 2021
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Jun 28, 2021
What happens when your health data lives in a different country to you? Exploring the contradictions of cross-border care
Jun 28, 2021

For many people it is a confusing thought to imagine your health records being anywhere other than the country in which you reside. How did they get there, if you’re not there? If you moved to another country, why wouldn’t they move with you?

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Jun 28, 2021
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Jun 22, 2021
How Data and Other Technologies Are Revolutionising Healthcare: An Overview
Jun 22, 2021

For those looking for a helpful overview of what’s out there, some of the terms you might come across and examples of how tech is being successfully used, please read on.

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Jun 22, 2021
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May 28, 2021
Independent Patient Advocates N=1 or N=many?
May 28, 2021

Influencers are not just people talking about lifestyle products or fashion. Many people living with chronic diseases report about their life with the disease and so-called health or patient influencers have been recognized as important stakeholders in healthcare for years now.

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May 28, 2021
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May 4, 2021
How can Artificial Intelligence (AI) help us prepare for the next pandemic?
May 4, 2021

The pandemic unveiled already existing weaknesses, which added up to the struggles health systems found themselves with. COVID-19 will have profound implications on economic progress, trust in governments and social cohesion but, above all, on patients’ health.

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May 4, 2021
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