Many new insights can be gained from public health data. However, to do this, the data must be linked and evaluated. This is not currently the case in Austria, but healthcare reform is giving momentum to the debate.
Scientists are now calling for changes to the planned healthcare reform. “We have the data lying around somewhere, that is for historical reasons,” explains Stefan Thurner, chairman of the Complexity Science Hub Vienna, in an interview with “Krone”.
The scientific use of health data was already an issue during the pandemic and led to the creation of a database (Austrian Micro Data Center), located at Statistics. As part of health care reform, a new database will be created into which the federal, state and social security systems will enter health data.
Science needs access to data
But science cannot use them, Thurner criticizes and calls on politicians to link both databases and make them accessible to science. The information is all anonymized and privacy is protected, Thurner emphasizes.
Health Minister Johannes Rauch offers the prospect of such a network. He recently loudly defended himself against criticism of Platform X. “I am tired of being accused of not giving science access to health data, but the opposite is true.”
Rauch explained that it was true that in the first version of the data evaluation platform, initially only the three system partners (federal, state, social security) had access. However, efforts are underway to ensure that science can participate. An immediate connection would fail due to “legal hurdles”. Critics are invited to see the problem firsthand in the ministry.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
