How we do it

Finding, retrieving and using (health)care data for research purposes is key. Health-RI organizes the collective voice of all stakeholders, working closely with legislators and policy makers in removing current bottlenecks and obstacles in legislation.

Our mission is better health for citizens and patients by reusing health data with an integrated health data infrastructure for research and innovation. Health-RI is going to realize this mission by developing elements of the infrastructure in a pragmatic, step by step approach, focusing on the users. The basis of the infrastructure is a network with a central hub and regional nodes.

In 2021, Health-RI has received funds from the National Growth Fund for the development of a health data infrastructure. The Health-RI Growth Fund project calls for explicit attention to the organizational, social and cultural aspects of realizing a national health data infrastructure. Compliance by design, standards and regulations, guaranteeing the privacy of citizens and patients and a sustainable funding system are important aspects of the project.

Health-RI works together with the Ministries of Health, Welfare and Sport, Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate and many other stakeholders in the field of healthcare, research and business, as well as citizens and patients. Only together can agreements be made regarding the (re)use of health data.

How we operate 

The strategy of Health-RI follows three lines of action

• Collective action: optimizing the conditions for building and maintaining a national health data infrastructure; 
• Building a national health data infrastructure: fostering and facilitating initiatives and collaborations directed at developing a national health data infrastructure; 
• Providing services and tools: supporting researchers and data managers by making infrastructure services, tools and data easy to locate, access and use