The vast majority of Irish people say they are happy for information about their health to be collected, used and shared electronically; however, access and security of the information must be protected. We are now developing recommendations on a model to support this.
In partnership with the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE), we undertook a national public engagement on health information with over 1,300 people across Ireland to hear their views on digital health records and the sharing health information.
The findings will be used by HIQA, the Department of Health, and the HSE to make improvements to Ireland’s health information and eHealth landscape. You can read about the survey and the findings on our website here. Watch our animation.
The collection, use and sharing of personal health information is essential for high-quality health and social services in Ireland. While the processing of personal health information is necessary for the provision and management of care, there is a need for clear rules and procedures to ensure this occurs in a safe and controlled manner.
In Ireland, unlike other countries, there is currently no specific legislation or codes of practice for health information. This is imperative to provide clarity for those working in the health and social care system about how they can use and share information appropriately and safely. There is also a need to define, within legislation, the different uses of health information, and the circumstances where authorisation for use of personal health information is required. To address this, HIQA is developing recommendations on a model for the collection, use and sharing of health information.
A public consultation on the recommendations will take place later this year. We encourage everyone with an interest in how health information is collected, used, and shared to review the draft Recommendations and provide feedback to this consultation. Following this, the recommendations will be revised before being submitted to the Minister for Health for approval in 2022.