Last update:
01-Aug-2025

The health care system's current situation in Greece calls for improvements on the conditions regarding access and optimal use of electronic health data, not only in the context of healthcare provision (primary use) but also for the benefit of society in general (secondary use). The Partnering for Added Value in the Health Ecosystem (PAVE) project aimed to present the current status of secondary health data use in Greece and to propose a detailed, realistic and widely accepted framework for their utilization. During the project's implementation, semi-structured interviews were performed with the participation of expert specialists, from both Greece and abroad, and the legal framework in Greece, the proposal for a regulation on the European health data space, and best practices of other countries were studied. The PAVE framework consists of four important pillars, including (a) development of infrastructure for primary and secondary use, (b) data readiness, (c) data governance and (d) development of skills with simultaneous awareness of parties involved. According to the PAVE framework, it is also fundamental to establish an appropriate legal framework and to ensure continuous and adequate funding. The PAVE framework can be used as a consistent basis for the development of an action plan on behalf of the state, including specific timetables and objectives, to further mature the Greek environment and develop the conditions for the generation of real world evidence (RWE). The benefits of this implementation are several and variable and facilitate all categories of parties involved (health system, research community, patients, health professionals, industry, etc.).

Key words: Data governance, Real world data, Real world evidence, Secondary health data use.