Empowered by the cloud: How cross-border health data flows can create value for patients and boost health system efficiency

COVID-19 demonstrated the value of sharing health data for collaborative operational and research purposes. The speed with which digital health services were implemented for the benefit and safety of patients and clinicians, and the development of highly effective vaccines at an unprecedented pace, were notable achievements. But without a degree of collaboration enabled by some adjustment – however temporary – in data sharing policy and regulation, that scale of success would hardly have been possible.

HIMSS, in collaboration with pharmaceuticals and diagnostics company Roche, has developed a report advocating for health data flows between countries and examines the expected benefits from the perspective of advancements in economic gains, patient access, and research.

The paper also draws attention to the role of cloud technology, which provides capacity to store and process large amounts of sensitive data under strict privacy and security protocols. In the healthcare and public health domains, research is increasingly conducted across cloud-enabled, networked environments equipped with AI-based analytical tools. Taken together, these capabilities can provide a neutral, apolitical interim solution while greater global policy alignment on international health data transfers is achieved.

Read the report to get all the insights.