International Coordination
eHealth Suisse continuously monitors the development of national electronic health record (EHR) projects in other countries and progress regarding the International Patient Summary (IPS). Furthermore, eHealth Suisse maintains regular dialogue with ministries, specialist organisations and industry representatives to discuss current developments and best practices.
SNOMED International
As the National Release Centre (NRC) for SNOMED CT in Switzerland, eHealth Suisse participates in SNOMED International’s working groups, such as the German Translation Group (NRCs of Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and the French Translation Group (NRCs of France, Belgium and Switzerland). As Italy is not currently an active member of SNOMED International, there is no translation group for Italian at present. eHealth Suisse is therefore carrying out translations into Italian independently.
External link: Further information on SNOMED International
External link: More information on SNOMED CT (in German, French or Italian)
IHE International - Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise
IHE International was established on the initiative of experts from the healthcare sector and industry with the aim of improving the exchange of health information between different IT systems. There are several regional and national IHE bodies. Of particular importance to Switzerland are IHE Europe and IHE Suisse. eHealth Suisse is a member of the IHE Suisse committee. eHealth Suisse is actively involved in the working groups of the IHE International Technical Committee on ‘IT Infrastructure’ to represent Switzerland’s interests. eHealth Suisse regularly participates in meetings on standards change management and is also involved in working groups developing new interoperability standards. eHealth Suisse regularly collaborates with IHE Suisse on organising the Digital Health Projectathon test week.
External link: IHE International
Internal link: Digital Health Projectathon
HL7® Switzerland
HL7® Switzerland is the Swiss national organisation of the international HL7® community. The HL7® Switzerland user group was founded in 2000. eHealth Suisse chairs the HL7® Switzerland working group on ‘EPR exchange formats’, in which the FOPH, the interprofessional working group IPAG eHealth and the EPR communities participate. This working group ensures that the exchange formats developed for the electronic patient record (EPR) comply with the structure of the HL7® FHIR® standard. The implementation guides are published at www.fhir.ch.
External link: HL7® Switzerland
External link: HL7® FHIR® Implementation Guide
Global Digital Health Partnership
Since the end of July 2019, eHealth Suisse has officially represented Switzerland within the Global Digital Health Partnership (GDHP), founded in 2018. The partnership brings together national and regional governments as well as international organisations whose aim is to support the implementation of digital health services worldwide. The GDHP currently has 33 members.