What happened:
IHE-Europe hosted its flagship Connectathon Week at Vienna’s Allianz Stadion, a five-day interoperability event bringing together system vendors, health IT professionals, and policymakers for intense testing, collaboration, and learning.
Key focus:
The week featured a mix of interoperability testing (Connectathon, Projectathon and Plugathon), stakeholder workshops, and the two-day IHE-Europe Experience Days conference.
Highlights included:
- IHE-Europe Experience Days (June 24–25) featured plenaries and panels on AI, EHDS implementation, diagnostics, terminology, cross-border exchange, and the evolving Testing Continuum.
- EHDS preparedness, including project updates (xt-EHR, xShare, MyHealth@MyHands, i2X) and recent MoUs
- A new DICOM/FHIR imaging study manifest was advanced
- A pioneering Plugathon demonstrated integration between IHE and openEHR implementations, setting a precedent for technical convergence
- Formal MoU signings—IHE-Europe with HL7 Europe and xt-EHR—signaled strengthened cooperation in guiding EHDS implementation input across Europe
- Interoperability Run: early-morning 6:30 jog – symbolizing the human and team spirit at the heart of interoperability
Why it matters:
IHE’s structured, consensus-driven methodology continues to underpin the technical and semantic alignment needed for EHDS. Connectathon Week 2025 showcased this through real-world profile testing, project collaboration, and shared design approaches.
IHE-Europe impact:
- Enabled real-world validation of EHDS technical readiness
- Strengthened the HIMSS–IHE Testing Continuum
- Fostered cross-sector participation—from clinicians to vendors and national programs to EU-funded projects
Next steps:
- IHE-Europe Experience Days Brussels 2026 already in planning
- Sustained joint development of EHDS integration profiles I collaboration with HL7 Europe, EU projects and many other partners
Discover more about IHE-Europe:
IHE-Europe (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise-Europe) is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes the coordinated use of established standards such as HL7 and DICOM to improve the interoperability of health information systems. IHE-Europe supports the development and testing of IHE integration profiles and organises the IHE Connectathon and educational activities across Europe. As a regional deployment committee of IHE International, IHE-Europe works closely with national initiatives, industry partners, and EU-funded projects to advance the digital transformation of healthcare in Europe.
