From Medical Records to Health Data: Creation, Preservation, and Reuse

Organized alongside the French Archivists Association (AAF https://www.archivistes.org/) national workshop, on the theme “The Hospital Archivist and the Challenges of Digitalization: Issues, Opportunities, and Prospects (https://www.archivistes.org/larchiviste-hospitalier-et-les-defis-du-numeriques-enjeux-opportunites-et-perspectives/) , this interdisciplinary conference critically explores the electronic medical record and its impact on the generation, preservation and reuse of hospital health data. It interrogates digitization’s implications for record management and knowledge construction across medical, historical, communication, political and legal domains, and invites participants from varied national contexts.

Data collection must serve multiple objectives. It should document the patient’s hospital journey and support coordinated care. In addition, it depends on a digital application that produces quality indicators and feeds information systems and interoperable data repositories. In France, the transfer of data to the National Health Data System (SNDS) and, by extension, to the Health Data Platform (PDS) (https://www.snds.gouv.fr/SNDS/Accueil) underscores the strategic value of these data for medical research, health-policy development, and the progress of artificial intelligence.