Background: Healthcare professionals (HCP) are often patients’ first point of contact in what concerns the communication of the purposes, benefits, and risks of sharing electronic health records (EHR) for non-direct care purposes. Their engagement is fundamental to ensure patients’ buy-in and a successful implementation of healthcare data sharing schemes. However, their views on this subject are seldom evaluated.

Objective: To explore HCP’ perspectives on the secondary uses of healthcare data in England. Specifically, we aimed to assess a) their knowledge on its purposes and b) the main concerns about data sharing processes.

Methods: A total of 30 interviews were conducted between the 27th March and 7th April 2017 using an online interview platform, and following a topic guide with open-ended questions. The participants represented a variety of geographic locations across England (London, West Midlands, East of England, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber), covering both primary and secondary care services. The transcripts were compiled verbatim and systematically reviewed by two independent reviewers, using the framework analysis method to identify emerging themes.

Results: HCP were knowledgeable about the possible secondary uses of data and highlighted its importance for 1) patient profiling and tailored care, 2) research, 3) quality assurance, 4) public health, and 5) service delivery planning purposes. Main concerns towards data sharing included 1) data accuracy, 2) patients’ willingness to share their records, 3) challenges on obtaining free and informed consent, 4) data security, 5) lack of adequacy / understanding of current policies, and 6) potential patient exposure and exploitation.

Conclusions: These results suggest a high level of HCP understanding about the purposes of data sharing for secondary purposes, however, some concerns still remain. A better understanding of HCP’ knowledge and concerns could inform national communication policies, and improve tailoring in order to maximise efficiency and improve patients’ buy-in.