Health Data Quality Skill Gaps and Training Needs Among European Health Data Stakeholders: Cross-Sectional Survey

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Data Governance
• European Health Data Space (EHDS)

Background:

• The secondary use of health data is increasing in Europe, necessitating robust data quality frameworks.
• The European Health Data Space (EHDS) mandates data quality and utility labeling (Article 78) for data reuse.
• Stakeholder capacity in data quality assessment and management is crucial but empirically understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess current skill gaps, training needs, and organizational readiness for health data quality among European stakeholders.
• To identify specific needs related to the EHDS data quality and utility labeling framework.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional online survey was distributed to European health data stakeholders (holders, users, access bodies).
• The survey assessed roles, skills, challenges, organizational support, and learning preferences regarding data quality.
• Data were collected from 64 participants representing 44 institutions across 18 European countries.

Main Results:

• Most respondents (84.4%) consider data quality critical, yet 87.5% report poor quality limits their effectiveness.
• Key skill gaps exist in applying data quality metrics, auditing, reporting, and metadata management.
• Significant organizational deficits include unclear data quality roles (84.4% lack defined roles) and absence of dedicated data quality management (68.8%).

Conclusions:

• Practical experience with health data does not equate to data quality competence.
• Structural issues like unclear roles and weak governance impede effective data quality management.
• Targeted, role-specific capacity-building is essential for successful EHDS Article 78 implementation and data quality.