Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41737815›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in digital health2026

EUPID-configurable privacy-preserving record linkage in federated health data spaces.

Dieter Hayn, Emanuel Sandner, Martin Baumgartner, Bernhard Jammerbund, Fabian Wiesmüller, Stefan Beyer, Hannah Vinatzer, Angelika Rzepka, Klaus Donsa, Karl Kreiner and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in digital health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Dieter HaynDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Emanuel SandnerDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Martin BaumgartnerDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Bernhard JammerbundDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Fabian WiesmüllerDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Stefan BeyerDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Hannah VinatzerDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Angelika RzepkaDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Klaus DonsaDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Karl KreinerDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.
Guenter SchreierDigital Health Information Systems, Center for Health and Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Graz, Austria.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Rare disease research relies heavily on secondary use of health data due to the scarcity of clinical guidelines and data sharing between research institutions and hospitals. Linking rare disease patients is challenging due to increased re-identification risk in small cohorts, thus limiting the data's potential for research. Privacy-Preserving Record Linkage (PPRL) enables the linkage of disparate datasets while safeguarding the identities of involved participants. Methods: The aim of the present paper is to provide an up-to-date description of the concept and the technical details of the European Patient Identity (EUPID) Services, a configurable PPRL solution which is currently used for rare disease research in Europe to bridge healthcare and research. They support different algorithms for record linkage (configurable selection of quasi-identifiers, various hashing algorithms, phonetic hashing, Bloom filters), re-identification and flexible specification of the pseudonym format. Furthermore, their setup is also flexible whether to install standalone instances or integrate with a central EUPID Services deployment. Results: The EUPID Services have been used in various research applications since 2014. As of July 2025, 6,356 unique patients have been registered to the central EUPID Services within the domain Paediatric Oncology in Europe, and 10,340 pseudonyms for 12 EUPID Contexts have been generated. Within the Austrian Health Data Donation Space, which represents a federated PPRL infrastructure supporting asynchronous record linkage, more than 16 million patients were pseudonymised in six different contexts. Overall, four cases of false negative matches have been identified, which were caused by typing errors. So far, no false positive match has ever been detected. Discussion: In view of the upcoming European legislatives like the European Health Data Space (EHDS), connecting patient data securely and safely will become increasingly important and useful. The EUPID Services support such linkage in a Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) manner and thus could represent a vital and proven part of future national and European research networks.

Indexed as

European Health Data Space (EHDS)findability accessibility interoperability re-usability (FAIR)privacy-preservationrecord linkagesecondary use

Identifiers

PMID41737815
PMCPMC12927036

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.