The Eleventh Annual European interoperability testing event, known as the IHE Connectathon, will be held in Pisa, at the Stazione Leopolda, a former railway station transformed into a magnificent multifunctional centre ideally suited as a venue for this pan-European gathering.
More than 200 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 the framework of the annual Connectathon a parallel interoperability testing event, called a Projectathon, will be organised by the epSOS project (Smart Open Services for European Patients), as part of the large-scale European pilot program for the cross-border exchange of patient summaries and electronic prescriptions.
In parallel with these testing activities, Connectathon 2011 will offer a conference program of workshops and seminars gathering key stakeholders from diverse European health IT programs for a focus on specific healthcare themes.
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."
"After 10 years of steady progress, Connectathon is now seen as the right place at the right moment for people to share experiences on e-health implementations," according to Peter Kuenecke, IHE-Europe vendor Co-Chair.
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 products with IHE Integration Profiles. This is a clear benefit to vendors when responding to Requests for Proposals from users.
For further information, please visit:
http://www.ihe-europe.net
About IHE-Europe
IHE-Europe is the European branch 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.