New publication: "Exploring data governance for data sharing at Swiss university hospitals"
Local data governance bodies within health data providing institutions play a central role in shaping the secondary use of routine health data. To transparently share knowledge with all stakeholders, SPHN publishes a detailed comparison of institutional data governance practices across the five Swiss university hospitals, including governance roles, bodies and processes.
18.11.2025
The report “Exploring Data Governance for the Data Sharing at the Swiss University Hospitals” shows that all institutions recognize the importance of data governance to enable data sharing and to foster trust. Overall, all five university hospitals in Switzerland have made significant steps towards establishing professional data governance. Several institutions have clearly defined points of contact, employ dedicated data governance professionals, established decision-making bodies, and follow policies that regulate the procedures and responsibilities of these bodies.
At the same time, the identified data governance practices demonstrate a clear need to further innovate and to democratize data access. Current data governance practices prioritize internal data usage over data sharing with external stakeholders.
The report describes relevant commonalities and portrays future challenges in governance practices, including the need for further alignment. The report sheds light on the institutional decision makers for access to routinely collected health data, processing of access requests, and on what grounds these decisions are taken. Ultimately, the report proposes future avenues in the alignment and professionalization of health data governance in Switzerland.