IHE-Europe IHE-Europe is a non-profit association dedicated to interoperability in Health IT. IHE-Europe gathers a broad range of stakeholders to advance the shared exchange of patient information. It begins with an open process of developing integration profiles to assure IT systems can talk to each other. Then it requires testing these systems to verify that complex system delivers the data. Finally, IHE-Europe actively promotes wider awareness and use of these methods for assuring continued conformance and compatibility. As the mission of IHE is to improve interoperability (1) IHE develops Technical Framework Documents for IHE Integration Profiles, (2) organizes the IHE Connectathon to provide a possibility to test interoperability, (3) organizes IHE demonstrations in order to promote the use of interoperable products, (4) and ensures the credibility of interoperability claims by individual vendors. IHE-Europe has two operational committees 1/ IHE-SERVICES offers services of testing and developing the Gazelle management tools (a GITB compliant testBed platform) used for the IHE conformity assessment by accredited ISO/IEC 17025 testing laboratory; 2/ IHE EU-AFFAIRS , managing IHE-Europe contribution on European projects, was the technical coordinator of the Antilope project, which developed the refined ehealth Interoperability Framework and scientific coordinator of the European project EURO-CAS which define a conformity assessment scheme for Europe (www.EURO-CAS.eu). IHE-Europe organises the yearly European Connectathon and projectathons and among them during the past years several epSOS and eHDSI Projectathons that includes the tests of Cross Border Patient Summary, ePrescription, and eDispensation. IHE-Europe is developing a high level of quality on testing methodology.
