Tech

My health space: everything you need to know about the new digital medical record

My health space is designed as a platform from which it is possible to group all your health data, and thus facilitate medical follow-up both from the point of view of the insured and health professionals.

My Health Space

Since February 3, 2022, a new public service called “My health space” has replaced the medical records of all individuals who are covered by Health Insurance. It comes to take the role of the “shared medical file” which came into force in 2016, which was itself the successor to the personal medical file that we have known since 2004. How does it work, how are health data processed, here is everything you need to know about this platform.

What is my health space?

This is a digital health record whose purpose is to list all of your health information in one place. My health space is supposed to bring more convenience, both for patients and doctors. The Minister of Solidarity and Health Olivier Véran evokes a “revolution” which must be as important as the introduction of the vital card.

My health space
Credit: Ministry of Solidarity and Health

When does My Health Space come into effect?

My health space entered the test phase in Haute-Garonne, Loire-Atlantique and Somme at the end of 2021. The official start of the service took place on February 3, 2022 across national. This does not mean that you can access the platform now, as accounts are created gradually. However, all policyholders should have their space by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

The My health space account is created automatically and does not require an action from the insured for the creation, contrary to what was done with the medical file. Once created by the system, it must be activated. Between January 31 and March 28, L’Assurance Maladie sends more than a million activation codes by email and post, along with instructions for activating an account. The procedure is simple, and only requires the information of the vital card and the code which was sent to us, which it is necessary to inform on Monespacesante.fr. For people who do not have access to an internet connection or who do not have a very good command of digital technology, it is also possible to go to a France services office in order to obtain assistance.

My health space
Credit: Ministry of Solidarity and Health

Can I refuse My health space?

It is possible to refuse the creation of your My health space account. To do this, you must act within six weeks of receiving the message containing the activation code. You must then contact the support of the platform, directly from the website, by telephone on 3422 (non-surcharged call) or by going to the health insurance fund to which you are attached.

After the six-week period, or if you have already accepted My health space, it is no longer possible to prevent the creation of the account. However, there remains the possibility of close it and delete it, and therefore prevent their health information from remaining accessible. By default, Health Insurance keeps health data for 10 years. When closing the account, you must expressly demand their permanent deletion if you do not want the Health Insurance to save them.

What information is stored on My health space?

My Health Space contains all the new medical documents which concern you, which are added to it by health professionals. The patient can also add information himself prior to the creation of the account, or which has not been transferred to My health space by forgetting or by mistake.

If you are one of the more than 10 million French people to have a shared medical file (DMP), the data from it is transferred to My health space. For the others, their space will only contain the history of reimbursements for health acts as well as the vaccination course, then will be enriched as the consultations progress.

Prescriptions, test and analysis results, hospitalization reports, medical images, family history, diseases, allergies, vaccinations received and treatments in progress are all information that can be added to the profile.

My health space
Credit: Ministry of Solidarity and Health

Minors can decide to keep confidential information relating to their sexual health: contraception, recourse to abortion, screening for sexually transmitted infections. In this case, the items are not saved in My health space.

Who has the right to access my data on My health space?

The issue of health data is very sensitive, because it can be exploited by third parties to the detriment of the person. Thereby, employers and insurers cannot, under any circumstances, consult the health information of policyholders who have a My Health Space account. Nor do they have the right to demand that you supply them. Beyond the patient himself, only health personnel are authorized to connect to your space.

Are authorized to access your data your attending physician as well as the members of a care team who take care of you, whether it is an emergency or a care process in progress. Any other healthcare professional who is not directly involved in your health follow-up must obtain your oral or written consent to access your medical file. A section Access in case of emergency is provided, from which you can oppose access to your medical information, even in an emergency.

When a healthcare professional accesses your data for the first time, you are automatically notified. It is also possible to consult a history of connections to his account, which indicates the name of the professional, the document which was consulted, as well as the date and time of the connection.

My health space
Credit: Ministry of Solidarity and Health

Depending on the quality of a health professional, he is not always authorized to access all of your data. For example, an optician cannot consult a delivery report.

The details of the security measures put in place are not known, but we know that all the information is hosted in France by Atos and Santeos. These companies are certified Health Data Host (HDS) in accordance with Article L. 1111-8 of the Public Health Code. The State, the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL) and the National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam) are responsible for protecting the monespacesante.fr website.

Make sure you connect to My health space from a secure connection, avoiding public networks, in order to reduce the risk of hacking. Health information is prized by hackers, as evidenced by the theft of data from 1.4 million people following a cyberattack targeting the Hospitals of Paris.

What are the other features of My health space?

The platform already has a secure messaging, which makes it possible to exchange with health professionals. Several other tools are planned, but will be implemented later, such as an agenda that will be used to manage medical appointments and to remind you of check-ups, health checks, screenings or vaccinations.

More specific applications (prevention, monitoring of chronic diseases, teleconsultation) will also enrich the experience, which will come from both public and private players. But the user will have complete control over the services he wishes to authorize.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *