More than 300 information technology engineers from 90 companies are expected for this year's event, an intensive, five-day 'connectivity marathon' for testing the interoperability of applications used in health information systems.
In parallel with these testing activities, Connectathon 2010 will offer two full-day conference programs, one focused on the progress towards interoperability in European health IT programs and one focused on developments in France.
At the IHE Connectathon all companies implementing IHE Technical Framework specifications in their products have a unique opportunity to test their applications with systems and products from other vendors in a real-time interoperability environment.
According to vendors who have participated in previous Connectathons, "the cost of identifying and solving a bug during a Connectathon is about 10 times less than the cost of a bug identified on site."
The results of the Connectathon will be published on the IHE-Europe website and application vendors may refer to the IHE Integration Statements to show compliance of their product with IHE Integration Profiles. This is a clear benefit to vendors when responding to Requests for Proposals from users.
For more information on IHE-Europe please visit: www.ihe-europe.net. Also available on the IHE-Europe website are Success Stories about IHE implementations in Europe, as well as FAQs about Connectathon and IHE frameworks and specifications.
About IHE-Europe
IHE-Europe is the European organization of the international IHE organisation. 'Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise' (IHE) is a joint initiative of healthcare professionals and industry to improve the way computer systems in healthcare share information. IHE promotes the coordinated use of established standards such as DICOM, XML and HL7 to address specific clinical needs in support of optimal patient care. Systems developed in accordance with IHE specifications communicate with one another better, are easier to implement, and enable care providers to use information more effectively.