France Modifies Rules for Mandatory Health Data Transmission and Pseudonymization
France has issued Decree No. 2026-1009, dated October 28, 2026, which amends regulations on the mandatory transmission of individual health data to health authorities. The decree clarifies the process of pseudonymizing data, particularly for reports on diseases requiring special surveillance. It specifies who is responsible for creating unique identifiers for this data, whether it's through the 'LABOé-SI' system or by healthcare professionals and laboratories. The changes aim to refine data handling procedures for public health monitoring.
What does it mean?
France has updated the rules for how doctors and medical labs must send patient information to health authorities. This new decree, effective the day after it was published, makes it clearer how personal data is made anonymous, especially for reporting serious diseases. It ensures that unique codes for this data are created either by a specific health system or by the doctors and labs themselves, depending on how the information is reported.
Who is affected?
Patients, doctors, medical biology services and laboratories, regional health agencies, and the national public health agency.
What changes?
Previously, irreversible computer coding was always used for pseudonymization in some cases; now, the method depends on whether the reporting is done through the 'LABOé-SI' system or through other channels by physicians or regional health agencies.