In 3 lines. DMP is a technical building block. Mon Espace Santé is the patient portal that wraps it. The digital vaccination record is a feature integrated in both. They are not competitors — they are nested.
The great semantic confusion
For 20 years, French digital health has stacked up names: DMP, DP, DMP-E, MES, health record, DMP'ad, DP-Ruptures, Ameli, Doctolib... Each minister brings their own acronym. The result: patients no longer know who does what.
This article separates the three services most often confused. For each: who created it, what it's for, who has access, and how it connects to the other two.
1. The DMP — Shared Medical Record
What is it?
Launched in 2004 by the French health insurance system, the DMP is a centralised digital medical record. It contains the patient's structured medical documents: hospital discharge summaries, lab results, prescriptions, referral letters, vaccinations.
Who has access?
The patient, and the healthcare professionals the patient authorises. Every access is logged. Professionals use their Health Professional Card (CPS) to connect.
Its status in 2026?
The DMP no longer exists as a standalone service. Since 2022, it has been integrated into Mon Espace Santé. When people today speak of the DMP, they mean the "medical record" building block of MES. The acronym survives in professional use, but the patient interface is MES.
2. Mon Espace Santé (MES)
What is it?
Launched in February 2022, Mon Espace Santé is the official patient portal for the entire French healthcare ecosystem. It gathers several services into a single interface:
- The medical record (former DMP)
- A secure messaging service (MSSanté on the patient side)
- A medical profile (allergies, history, treatments)
- A health calendar
- The vaccination record (see next point)
- A partner applications catalogue
How does it differ from DMP?
Three major differences:
- Automatic creation (opt-out) — DMP had to be actively opened. MES is opened by default for every insured person.
- Broader scope — DMP only contained the record. MES adds messaging, calendar, profile, app catalogue.
- Interop portal — MES is the official entry point to third-party applications referenced by ANS.
3. The digital vaccination record
What is it?
A feature, not a standalone service. The digital vaccination record is integrated directly into Mon Espace Santé. It mirrors the paper health booklet for vaccinations.
How is it fed?
Three feeding pathways:
- Automatic entry by professionals during an injection (when they use MES-compatible software)
- Import from pharmacies (when you buy a vaccine)
- Manual entry by yourself, to catch up on history
Why does it matter?
Because the paper record gets lost, damaged, forgets your boosters. An up-to-date digital record enables: international travel (some countries require certain vaccines), family management (your children's vaccines), automatic reminders (tetanus at 25, 45, 65 years; DTP; seasonal flu for 65+).
Visual comparison
Analogy. Imagine MES as a building. DMP is one of the apartments in the building (the largest). The vaccination record is one of the rooms in that apartment. When you enter MES, you can access the DMP apartment and, inside it, the "vaccinations" room.
- MES = the building (the portal, the interface, the main entrance)
- DMP = the main apartment (the structured medical record)
- Vaccination record = a room in the apartment (a thematic view of the data)
Where these services end and where MDMC begins
MES, DMP and the vaccination record are the official public building blocks. They solve 60 to 80% of patient needs. The remaining 20 to 40% concerns:
- Aggregation with sources outside MES (private labs, pharmacies, wearables)
- Longitudinal and visual analysis (charts, trends, scores)
- Granular sharing with instant revocation
- Cross-border portability (travel, expatriation, second opinion)
- Zero-knowledge encryption (MES does not guarantee even the State cannot read)
This additional layer is what a partner application like My Data My Care provides. Not as a replacement for the public base — as a complementary extension.
Key takeaways
- You already have a Mon Espace Santé, created automatically from your health insurance account. Activate it at monespacesante.fr.
- The DMP is no longer a separate service — it is inside MES.
- The digital vaccination record is a view within MES, not a separate app.
- Partner applications (MES catalogue) extend these services with the missing features (aggregation, analysis, advanced portability, stronger encryption).