EXPEHDIA – Exploration of EHDS-Compliant Data-Driven Interventions and Applications

More and more people are collecting health data themselves: The smartwatch records heartbeat and sleep, an app documents complaints, a home measuring device provides blood values. These so-called patient-generated health data (PGHD) have great potential. Combined with conventional medical findings, they can help detect diseases earlier, make preventive care more targeted, and provide better support for people with chronic illnesses. So far, however, such data mostly remain on the user's own device and are rarely incorporated into healthcare or research.

This is where the European Health Data Space (EHDS) comes in. It establishes uniform rules throughout Europe for how health data can be securely used and exchanged, on the one hand for one's own treatment, and on the other hand, well protected, for research and health planning. However, how self-collected data can be integrated into this framework remains largely open.

The project EXPEHDIA is testing three concrete practical applications: a digital support program for women going through menopause, wearable-based screening for sleep apnea, and potassium self-measurement for people with heart failure. At the same time, it shows how the resulting data can be provided in compliance with EHDS standards. The focus is on one goal: citizens should be able to understand their health data, use it self-determinedly, and have a say in what it is used for.