Legal framework and institutional responsibilities
Responsabilities for health policy are shared between the national governance level (including the Ministry of health) and regional governing. To facilitate cooperation between the and regional level government, regular meeting are met within the frame of the Interterriorial Council of the National Health System, with representatives of the Ministry of health and from all Spanish regions.
The Ministry of Health has recently created (September 2020) a General Secretariat of Digital Health, Information and Innovation of the National Health System, and a General Directorate of Digital Health and Information Systems for the National Health System.
There is a Digital Strategy of the National Health system, aiming to improve the health of all people in all places through the development and accelerated adoption of digital health solutions for healthcare and the development of infrastructures and applications that allow healthcare professionals to use data to promote the health and well-being of citizens,
All these initiatives will help to advance towards a unified public health information system that brings together data from the entire National Health System.
Health information strategy
Currently, there is no formal Health Information Strategy in Spain. However, the Ministry of Health is engaged in developing a National Data Space, as well as participating in the European Data Space.
The National health data space will supports and facilitate research and analysis of large data sets that serve as a basis for the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the field of health, as a fundamental tool of personalized medicine .
All stakeholders are covered with relevant legislation.
