In Switzerland, responsibility for organising and providing healthcare lies with the cantons (authorisation of healthcare institutions, contributions to healthcare professionals’ training, regulation of healthcare professions, public health literacy, etc.) To have an impact, however, eHealth projects have to be able to function beyond cantonal boundaries. People in Switzerland are highly mobile these days – they move house, change medical practice or go on outings to other regions. In addition, the healthcare professions are becoming ever more specialised. As a result, patients’ treatment often involves several healthcare professionals. Important health information that is needed for treatment is often unavailable at the crucial moment.
Linking up all the digital healthcare data nationally will help resolve this problem. The Confederation and cantons therefore concluded a framework agreement in 2007 to establish a joint Competence and Coordination Centre – eHealth Suisse – which coordinated the implementation of the two Swiss eHealth strategies between 2007 and 2024. Since 2017, eHealth Suisse has also been responsible for formal enforcement tasks arising from the Federal Act on the Electronic Patient Record (EPRA). It coordinates the implementation of the national EPR project in collaboration with the FOPH, the Swiss Conference of the Cantonal Ministers of Public Health (CMPH), the EPR communities and other partners operating in the healthcare and digital health sectors.
To support the interoperability of health data throughout Switzerland, eHealth Suisse works with Swiss and European standardisation organisations, develops exchange formats and promotes the use of national and international standards in the eHealth sector. It also publishes recommendations for mobile applications (mHealth). Since 2025, eHealth Suisse has been supporting DigiSanté projects with the selection and development of standards and the harmonisation of registers. As the National Release Centre for SNOMED CT – the world’s most comprehensive clinical terminology for the coding of medical information – eHealth Suisse offers free usage of the license in Switzerland.