Proxy Service

An online service that enables natural persons to provide an authorisation to other natural persons of their choice

In short: An online service, provided by member states, that enables natural persons to provide an authorisation to other natural persons of their choice to access or control the access to their personal electronic health data.

From Recital 21: Natural persons should be able to provide an authorisation to other natural persons of their choice, such as their relatives or other close natural persons, enabling such persons of their choice to access or control the access to the personal electronic health data of the natural persons who provide the authorisation or to use digital health services on their behalf. Such authorisations could also be convenient for other usage by natural persons provided with such an authorisation.

Proxy services for enabling and implementing such authorisations should be established by Member States, and be linked to personal electronic health data access services such as patient portals or patient-facing applications for mobile devices. Those proxy services should also enable guardians to act on behalf of their dependents, including minors; in such situations, authorisations could be automatic. In addition to those proxy services, Member States should also establish easily accessible support services to be provided by adequately trained staff dedicated to assisting natural persons when exercising their rights.

In order to take into account cases in which the display of some personal electronic health data of dependent persons to their guardians could be contrary to the interests or the will of their dependents, including minors, Member States should be able to provide in national law for limitations and safeguards as well as for mechanisms for their technical implementation. Personal electronic health data access services, such as patient portals or patient-facing applications for mobile devices, should make use of such authorisations and thus enable authorised natural persons to access personal electronic health data falling within the scope of the authorisation.

From Article 4:

2. Member States shall ensure that one or more proxy services are established as a functionality of electronic health data access services which enables:
   • (a) natural persons to authorise other natural persons of their choice to access their personal electronic health data, or part thereof, on their behalf for a limited or unlimited period and, if needed, for a specific purpose only, and to manage those authorisations; and
   • (b) legal representatives of natural persons to access personal electronic health data of those natural persons whose affairs they administer, in accordance with national law.
   Member States shall establish rules regarding the authorisations referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph and actions of guardians and other legal representatives.
3. The proxy services referred to in paragraph 2 shall provide authorisations in a transparent and easily understandable way, free of charge, and electronically or on paper. Natural persons and their representatives shall be informed about their authorisation rights, including about how to exercise those rights, and about the authorisation process.

   The proxy services shall provide an easy complaint mechanism for natural persons.

4. The proxy services referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article [Article 4] shall be interoperable among Member States. The Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, lay down the technical specifications for the interoperability of the proxy services of the Member States.

Comments/Discussion

---

Feedback

Please e-mail ehds@ringholm.com should the information on this page be incorrect or incomplete; we welcome your suggestions to improve its content.

About Ringholm bv

Ringholm bv is a group of European experts in the field of messaging standards and systems integration in healthcare IT. We provide the industry's most advanced training courses and consulting on healthcare information exchange standards.