Short answer: MyHealth@EU (formerly the eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure, eHDSI) is the European Union's system for exchanging health data between member states. Each participating country runs a National Contact Point for eHealth (NCPeH) that connects its national infrastructure to the others through a common, EU-operated layer. Two services run today: the Patient Summary (a doctor abroad, with the patient present and consenting, retrieves a summary of allergies, medications, problems, vaccinations and recent procedures from the home country, translated into their language) and ePrescription/eDispensation (a pharmacy abroad dispenses a prescription issued at home, and the dispensing is reported back). The European Health Data Space regulation (2025) makes participation mandatory, adds laboratory results, medical images and reports, discharge reports and original clinical documents, and moves the formats to the European EHR exchange format, built on FHIR.
How a request travels
A MyHealth@EU request travels between two National Contact Points for eHealth: the doctor's system in the visited country asks its NCPeH, which forwards the request with the professional's assertion and the patient's consent to the home country's NCPeH, which finds the patient, retrieves the summary, translates coded content through the Master Value Set Catalogue and returns it.
- A patient from country A sees a doctor in country B and identifies themselves (national health card or ID). The doctor's system asks country B's NCPeH for the patient summary.
- NCPeH-B sends the request to NCPeH-A over the secure MyHealth@EU network, with the professional's assertion and the patient's consent recorded.
- NCPeH-A identifies the patient in the national infrastructure, retrieves the summary from the national record (or assembles it from the GP record), pseudonymises nothing and translates everything: coded content is mapped through the Master Value Set Catalogue (shared value sets with translations in every EU language) and the narrative is shown in both languages.
- The doctor in B sees the summary in their language, with the original alongside. The access is logged in A, where the patient can see it.
ePrescription works the same way in reverse: the pharmacy in B retrieves the prescription from A, dispenses, and sends the eDispensation back so the home system marks it as used.
What is exchanged
MyHealth@EU exchanges two live services between EU member states, the Patient Summary and ePrescription with eDispensation, and is deploying Original Clinical Documents. Under the European Health Data Space, laboratory results, medical imaging reports and hospital discharge reports are being added as priority categories; roughly two dozen countries exchange the patient summary in one or both directions.
| Service | Content | Status (October 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Patient Summary | Identification, allergies, current medications, active problems, vaccinations, procedures, medical devices, recent results (as available) | Live between about two dozen countries in one or both directions |
| ePrescription / eDispensation | The prescription with medicine identification (ATC, national codes, substance, strength, form) and the dispensing report | Live between a growing group; some countries send only, some receive only |
| Original Clinical Documents | The documents the summary was derived from, as PDFs with metadata | Being deployed |
| Laboratory results | Structured results (LOINC, UCUM) with reports | EHDS priority category; pilots and first deployments |
| Medical imaging and reports | Reports first; image access through links | EHDS priority category |
| Hospital discharge reports | Structured and narrative | EHDS priority category |
Countries have joined at different speeds. Among the early and most complete participants are Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain; Germany, Austria, Italy and others have connected national contact points and are extending services. The Commission publishes the current map of live connections.
The formats
MyHealth@EU exchanges HL7 CDA documents today, following the eHDSI implementation guides for the Patient Summary, ePrescription and eDispensation, with the MVC value sets for translation and IHE XCPD and XCA profiles for transport. The European Health Data Space moves new services to the FHIR-based European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format, aligned with the International Patient Summary.
Today's exchange uses HL7 CDA documents following the eHDSI implementation guides (Patient Summary, ePrescription, eDispensation) with the MVC value sets for translation and IHE profiles for transport (XCPD for patient identification, XCA for document query and retrieve). The EHDS defines the European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format (EEHRxF): FHIR-based specifications for the priority categories, developed through the Xt-EHR joint action and HL7 Europe, aligned with the International Patient Summary. New services launch in FHIR, and the patient summary will migrate. See The International Patient Summary and CDA vs FHIR.
What the EHDS changes
The European Health Data Space regulation (2025/327) makes MyHealth@EU participation mandatory for every EU member state, with phased deadlines for the priority categories, gives patients a right to electronic and cross-border access to their data, requires EHR systems sold in the EU to support the European exchange format, and creates HealthData@EU for secondary use.
The regulation (2025/327) turns MyHealth@EU from a voluntary network into an obligation: every member state must connect and exchange the priority categories by the dates set in the regulation (phased, with the patient summary and ePrescription around 2029 and the remaining categories around 2031, subject to the implementing acts). It gives patients the right to access their data electronically and free of charge, to have it made available across borders, and to restrict access; it requires EHR systems sold in the EU to meet the exchange format and to carry a conformity declaration; and it creates a parallel infrastructure, HealthData@EU, for secondary use under permits from national health data access bodies. See Your medical data in the EU.
For a person travelling in the EU
A person travelling in the EU whose home country sends the patient summary through MyHealth@EU can have a doctor in a receiving country retrieve it, with consent and in the doctor's language, by presenting their health card or ID. Participation varies by country, so the Commission's map shows which routes are live.
If your home country sends the patient summary and the country you are in receives it, a doctor there can retrieve it with your consent, in their language, when you present your health card or ID. Check your home country's participation on the Commission's map, carry your card, and keep your own record as well: a record such as Anpheros Daily holds your summary in the IPS format and your documents from every country in one place, readable by any FHIR system, for the cases MyHealth@EU does not yet cover. See Health data portability and SMART Health Links.
National systems change often. This page describes the situation as published by the operators linked under Sources, last reviewed in October 2026; the operator's documentation is the authority for connection requirements.
Related pages
- National electronic health records in Europe and the US
- The International Patient Summary
- ePrescription across EU borders
- Your medical data in the EU: GDPR, EHDS and your rights
- CDA vs FHIR
- TEFCA and QHINs explained (the US counterpart)
- SMART Health Links explained
Sources
- European Commission: MyHealth@EU (electronic cross-border health services)
- European Commission: European Health Data Space regulation
- Regulation (EU) 2025/327 (EHDS), EUR-Lex
- eHealth Network: guidelines on the patient summary and ePrescription
- Xt-EHR joint action (European EHR exchange format)
- HL7 Europe
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to do anything to be covered?
Usually no: if your country participates, your summary is available on request with your consent at the point of care. Some countries require a prior opt-in in the national portal; check your national rules.
Can a doctor abroad see my whole record?
No. Only the patient summary and, where live, prescriptions and the specific priority categories, with your consent and the access logged. Full records remain national.
What about the UK and Switzerland?
They are not part of MyHealth@EU. Cross-border exchange with them is manual (documents the patient carries or sends), unless a bilateral arrangement exists.
Is the patient summary the same as the IPS?
Closely related. The EU patient summary predates the International Patient Summary and was one of its inputs; under the EHDS the European format aligns with the IPS, so a summary produced for MyHealth@EU is readable as an IPS.
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