Digital Health Projectathon

Digital Health Projectathon 2025

Sharing with open standards

This year, the Digital Health Projectathon (formerly known as the EPR Projectathon) will take place from the 15th to the 19th of September 2025 at the Eventforum in Bern. As usual, the relevant technical profiles for the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) will be available for testing. Interested providers will also be able to practice the electronic reporting of communicable diseases to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). In addition, the AGOV authority login service (authentication service for Swiss authorities) will be available for testing at the event. This is being organised by eHealth Suisse together with the Federal Chancellery. The aim is to enable EPR communities and their technical providers to test patient and healthcare professional access to the EPR based on a simulation (beta ID) of the new national electronic identity, the Swiss eID, and AGOV.

External link: More information on DigiSanté

External link: Reporting communicable diseases with CH-ELM

External link: More information on the national e-ID

Registration

Registrations are opened from the 1st to the 30th of June 2025.

Organisers

The Digital Health Projectathon is organised by eHealth Suisse in collaboration with the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and  IHE Suisse, the AGOV part with the Federal Chancellery.

Photo credits: Raphaël Schaller, External link: raphaelphoto.ch

The Digital Health Projectathon ...

... is an interoperability and conformity test marathon, similar to the IHE-Connectathon:

For five days, participants can test their own products live on site for interoperability and, if necessary, adapt them to the findings during the event. The test descriptions for the various projects are available in advance. Experts for each testable profiles are either available onsite or online for the whole event. EPR testing is done in the EPR reference environment.

... is a practical test for interoperability in eHealth:

The results of tests with other participants, the federal offices, the central services of the Confederation and the EPR reference environment provide indications of one's own status with regard to interoperability in eHealth services. Peer-to-peer tests and peer-to-reference environment tests show the interaction of the IT components. Group tests simulate use cases from the EPR management and other real-world exchanges of medical data.

... is evolving into a broad testing platform for interoperable digital services in healthcare, going well beyond the EPR:

Interoperability involves a connection with the activities and objectives of the EPR or the DigiSanté programme. Interoperable projects will add value to the seamless exchange of data in the health sector.

... does not replace the certification of EPR communities:

The tests around EPR interoperability are voluntary and non-binding for all participants. The EPR Projectathon is an efficient tool, but not a guarantee for a successful certification.

...is not an IHE-Europe Connectathon:

The Digital Health Projectathon focuses on Swiss specific configurations and clarifications of the IHE profiles - not on the underlying IHE standard profiles. These can be tested at the IHE-Europe Connectathon. Unlike the IHE-Europe Connectathon, no test results will be published.

Internal link: External link: More information about the IHE-Europe Connectathon

… is evolving into a broad testing platform for interoperable digital services in healthcare, going well beyond the EPR:

Interoperability involves a connection with the activities and objectives of the EPR or the DigiSanté programme. Interoperable projects will add value to the seamless exchange of data in the health sector.

External link: More information on DigiSanté

Testing event

Testing times: 9AM to 5PM from Tuesday to Thursday

The External link: Communicable Diseases Division of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH)  developed a FHIR API and a FHIR exchange format (External link: CH ELM  ) to enable laboratories to send electronically their observations of notifiable communicable diseases to the FOPH. The CH ELM exchange format is based on the External link: CH Lab Report  from eHealth Suisse. The Communicable Diseases Division FOPH is actively supporting the onboarding of the laboratories. During the event, technicians and developers from laboratories or LIS (laboratory information system) manufacturers will be able to exchange directly with specialists from the FOPH on all practical implementation problems linked to the CH-ELM project, as well as test the ELM format and get direct feedbacks. They could also get insights into other FHIR projects (e.g. Internal link: EPR, External link: CH-Lab-Report  or External link: CH-Lab-Order  ). Experience to date has shown that a project can be significantly accelerated by face-to-face exchange.

External link: FHIR specifications for CH-ELM

The AGOV authority login service (authentication service for Swiss authorities) will be available for testing at the event. This is being organised by eHealth Suisse together with the Federal Chancellery. The aim is to enable EPR communities and their technical providers to test patient and healthcare professional access to the EPR based on a simulation (beta ID) of the future national electronic identity, the Swiss e-ID, and AGOV. In addition, cantons (respectively their providers) have the possibility to test AGOV and the beta ID for additional digital services, outside of the EPR.

External link: More information about the future national e-ID

Conferences

In addition to the main testing event, the participants (vendors) are free to attend several conferences, such as Lightning talks and workshops. A free registration is needed for some workshops.

The programme will be published at the end of May.

Guided tours

Specialists from IHE Suisse will give an introduction to the EPR, its technical foundations, and the interoperability in the Swiss eHealth landscape. The event is primarily aimed at people who deal with the EPR in their day-to-day work: eHealth managers from the cantons, communities, hospitals, professional organisations and so on. However, all interested parties are welcome to register.

Registrations will be opened from mid-August.

Practical information

The registration process will be opened from 1st to 30th June 2025.

Providers of eHealth solutions for EPR communities, providers of primary systems (IT-Systems) for healthcare institutions and laboratories, wanting to test their compatibility with the EPR, AGOV or the electronic reporting with CH ELM.

The Digital Health Projectathon 2025 takes place at the Eventforum Bern, Fabrikstrasse 12, 3012 Berne.

Please use public transport whenever possible. A public transport card is usually included with hotel bookings in Berne. You can reach the Eventforum Bern from the train station with the bus n° 20 to the “Länggasse” stop, or the postal bus n° 101 “Kappelenring West” to the “Güterbahnhof” stop. The Eventforum is then only a short walk away. External link:

Parking spots are limited. If you need to come by car, please contact us beforehand: External link: stefan.wyss@e-health-suisse.ch .

External link: Where is my bus? Bus stops at the Bern train station

Participation to the Digital Health Projectathon 2025 cost 350 CHF  per participants (vendors). No reduction is offered for multiple registration by the same company.

The fee covers the technical infrastructure, the food and beverages and the invitation to the networking event (Special Event) on Thursday night.

The fee does not cover hotel booking or public transports.

Participants to the Projectathon are responsible for booking their own lodgings. On request, eHealth Suisse can provide a list of nearby hotels.

Registered vendors are invited (free of charge) to a networking evening in Berne on Thursday 18th Septembre 2025 from 7 PM. Location will be given to the vendors at the venue.