In the MyData Matters blog series, MyData members introduce innovative solutions that align with MyData principles, emphasising ethical data practices, user and business empowerment, and privacy.
What if managing your health data was as intuitive and
empowering as online banking? What if you could decide who
sees your medical records, when, and for what purpose—with
just a few clicks?
That’s the vision behind the Hippo Health Account, a new personal health data
service developed by Finnish HealthTech company HippocrAItes Oy. Designed to
meet the requirements of the European Health Data Space (EHDS), the platform
puts individuals in control of their health data—consolidating information from
national registries, private providers, and smart devices into a single, secure view.
A health account that empowers the individual
The Hippo Health Account functions like a digital health vault. Individuals can link
their data, manage consent, and decide with whom their information is shared.
Healthcare professionals, in turn, gain access to a unified, consented view of the
patient’s key health data—improving continuity of care without compromising
privacy.
In the Hippo Health Account, managing different permissions is easier, and the individual can personally decide what kind of use and by whom their health data is accessed—or whether, for example, they want it to be analysed by AI.”
— Pekka Honkanen, Chair of the Board, HippocrAItes Oy
What healthcare can learn from digital banking
Pekka Honkanen, who has a background in developing digital payment systems and introducing new technologies in the banking sector, sees clear parallels between the transformation in banking and what’s now emerging in healthcare.
Fundamental changes occur in industries from time to time, and technology is one contributing factor. In addition, such change is driven by shifts in regulation and the development of standards. When these three things happen simultaneously, it leads to a major transformation—as we have seen in the services of the banking sector”, Honkanen explains.
The EHDS is expected to bring a similar shift to health data. Just as open banking
broke down silos in finance, personal health accounts could do the same in
healthcare.
I began to wonder what the equivalent enabler in healthcare might be—what could help break down the silos. That’s when the idea of a personal health account emerged, a place where health data from different sources could be brought together”, Honkanen says.
Giving patients control through data ownership
The Hippo Health Platform combines data from health data repository and personal monitoring tools like smartwatches. In addition to health records, the Hippo Health Platform is designed to combine data from other sources such as wearable devices and patient-reported outcomes, supporting a more complete and personalized health account. The data is harmonised using the HL7 FHIR standard, making it easier to use in clinical decision-making and long-term care.
Patients can authorise professionals to view their data—just like authorising a
payment in online banking. The platform also supports tailored views for clinicians,
helping them focus on what matters most.
The output of new analytical tools improves the more data they are given. All this information forms a time series that benefits everyone. The patient’s personal situation can be assessed more accurately when all health data is brought together”, Honkanen describes.
From vision to practice: DiabetesCare360
The first real-world application of the platform is DiabetesCare360, HippocrAItes’
flagship programme led by Dr Merja Laine, Associate Professor and diabetologist.
The programme introduces a personalised, continuously monitored care model for
diabetes.
Patients manage their own data through the Hippo Health Account, while healthcare professionals access that data—only with the patient’s consent—via Hippo Clinic, a secure interface designed for clinical use. This setup ensures that individuals remain in control of their data while enabling professionals to make informed decisions based on a comprehensive view.
Through Hippo Clinic, the physician can view the patient’s diagnoses, medications, lab results and data from personal measuring devices — for example, long-term blood sugar monitoring, making it easier to assess treatment balance and plan next steps together with the patient.
The system is designed to support shared decision-making and reduce the administrative burden on clinicians.
Built for trust, designed for the individual
Hippo Health Platform is powered by AWS HealthLake, a cloud-based infrastructure that ensures scalability, security, and compliance. The Hippo Health Platform has already been certified for clinical use in Finland by Valvira.
As HippocrAItes expands its partnerships with researchers and care providers, the company is also exploring the economic impact of the model.
“The idea is that people would help their doctors help them. This benefits both the patient and the doctor. One of the goals of our development programme is to assess the economic impact of such a service.”
ABOUT HIPPOCRAITES OY
HippocrAItes Oy builds privacy‑first digital health infrastructure that places the individual in control of their longitudinal health data. The Hippo Health Platform powers patient‑managed Hippo Health Accounts and professional‑grade Hippo Clinic workflows to support continuous, data‑driven care and research.