Since the beginning of February, e-mails and postal letters have been gradually sent to the 65 million French social insured persons to inform them of the opening of “My health space”. What is it regarding ? A kind of “digital health record” which includes a medical file and secure messaging, soon to be completed by a health diary and a catalog of applications.
→ EXPLANATION. What is “My health space”, this new shared medical file?
The medical file contained in “My health space” is reminiscent of the DMP, shared medical file, which was not very successful. “My health space” illustrates, according to the ministerial head of digital health Dominique Pon, the ” takeover “ of the case by the State. One of the significant changes is the passage of the« opt-in » at the« opt-out » : whereas a voluntary approach was needed to create the DMP (« opt-in »), it is this time to refuse “My health space” that you have to show up (« opt-out »).
Without reaction six weeks following receipt of the letter, “My health space” is automatically created, which logically gives it more chances of existing (even if it remains possible to close it). On the health professional side, the use of the new tool will be facilitated, in particular via a vast project on the compatibility of software which should lead “My health space” to gradually fill up with vaccination certificates, results of biological analyses, prescriptions, etc.
“My health space” promises better follow-up
This large-scale project is part of the “very ambitious roadmap” digital health, which benefits from the comfortable envelope of 2 billion euros. In a note of last December, the Court of Auditors pointed out that “digital technologies offer unprecedented potential to improve the efficiency of the health system and allow savings to be made by health insurance”.
→ INVESTIGATION. Health data that is of growing interest… at what cost?
By grouping information regarding an individual, “My health space” promises better monitoring. We avoid that examination reports are lost, that prescriptions are redundant or that the consistency of care relies solely on the patient’s memory. “Useful when someone arrives at the hospital saying they think they are allergic to an antibiotic, but don’t know which one! », smiled a nurse. In an emergency, caregivers’ access to medical records can even be vital.
However, we can hesitate to accept that this intimate information can be found on the Internet. Who might access it, and what use might be made of it? “The leitmotif is safety, safety, safety”, insists Thomas Fatome, Director General of Health Insurance. All data from “My health space” is hosted in France, in compliance with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). And it is the patient who chooses which healthcare professional can access their documents (except for the attending physician and in emergency situations, however).
Founder of the Apssis (Association for the promotion of the security of health information systems), Vincent Trély puts into perspective: “Today is more of a mess! Health data is scattered everywhere, transits on public messaging systems, leaks from hospitals every week…” President of France Assos Santé, which brings together 83 patient associations, Gérard Raymond agrees: “We don’t lose our data, we recover it in a safe that we manage. »
The fear of interfacing with a platform hosted at… Microsoft
But Adrien Parrot, from the InterHop association, regrets the centralization of data on a single server “which then becomes a point of attachment, almost a Holy Grail for a hacker”. And wonders regarding the ” blurry “ who still reigns over a “project of this magnitude”, in particular regarding the services that will be able to integrate the catalog of applications. “My health space is a product that will not stop evolving”, indicated in early February Marguerite Cazeneuve, deputy director of Health Insurance. The scalability of the tool is not to reassure InterHop, which reports that“a major fear is the interfacing of My Health Space with the Health Data Hub”, this health data platform criticized because it is hosted by… Microsoft.
The promoters of “My health space” rely on the “pedagogy” and the“citizen support”, especially those furthest from digital, so that this new health record “settles in the daily life of the French”. In tune with the InterHop association, the Syndicate of General Medicine (SMG) believes that the very choice of the opt-out raises questions: how to ensure that the launch message of “My health space” has been received , read, understood? That those who have not followed up have grasped the stakes? “This is not consent”, slice the SMG, which denounces a “forced passage” and asks: “What to think of a society where when you don’t say no, it’s yes? »
