European Standards for Health Interoperability Alliance: a new association supporting EHDS standards and interoperability implementation

The European Standards for Health Interoperability Alliance (ESHIA) has recently been founded in Brussels, with the mission to support the implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) by operating the European EHR Exchange Format (EHRxF) standards and policy hub to boost awareness and international alignment of the common European Interoperability Specifications for EHDS. Formed by seventeen founding members among which some major standards development organisations (SDOs) such as CEN/TC 251, HL7 Europe, IEEE, and IHE Europe, European stakeholder associations, and interoperability competence centres across Europe.

“The EHDS is an ambitious regulation that places citizens at the centre of their care. EHDS transforms the way we create, share, and use health data for better healthcare, population health, clinical research and innovation. Accelerating the development, adoption, and global alignment of common European specifications is a critical element of EHDS implementation. That is why the xShare project established the European EHRxF Standards and Policy Hub, the ‘Hub’, as a one-stop-shop for interoperability specifications, tools, adoption and implementation kits, including also a Community of Excellence, and the xShare Industry Label as a mark of EHDS readiness.” says Catherine Chronaki, Secretary General of HL7 Europe and scientific coordinator of the xShare project. And continues: “ESHIA will serve as the institutional home of the Hub and will continue and sustain the Hub’s functions and services to support Member States, provider organisations, and vendors in the implementation of EHDS ready and compliant solutions also after the end of the xShare project.”

Marc Lange, inaugural ESHIA President, newly elected by the nine-member ESHIA Board of Directors, explains that: “in the coming months we will be developing the legal entity, business model and membership conditions, before we will be welcoming other SDOs, centres, and other organisations to join us.”

Compliance with the European EHRxF will become mandatory for European Member States, industry and providers. They will work under the EHDS regulation to ensure interoperability of personal electronic health data starting in 2027. The xShare project is serving as the incubator for the Hub and ESHIA, offering a neutral and supportive environment in order to co-create EHRxF implementation assets and to serve as steward of these assets. As a legal entity, ESHIA will continue the work of the Hub after the xShare project ends on 30 November 2026.

About ESHIA

Carla Alvarez, head of Public Programmes Funding at Fundació TIC Salut Social confirms that “creating the ESHIA marks a key milestone in consolidating a European health interoperability ecosystem. This alliance not only facilitates the implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS), but promotes a shared vision of common standards-essential for moving towards a more connected, efficient, and citizen-centred health system”. And remarks: ”Catalonia has always been at the forefront of the digital transformation of the health system, with a strong commitment to interoperability and the secure sharing of data. The participation of the TIC Salut Social Foundation in the xShare project and as members of ESHIA clearly demonstrates our commitment to driving collaborative solutions that benefit both healthcare systems and citizens”.

The seventeen founding members (in alphabetical order) are: CEN/TC 251, Berlin Institute of Health @ Charité (DE), Datawizard (IT), DNV AS (NO), ECHAlliance – The Global Health Connector (IE), EHTEL (BE), empirica (DE), Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio (IT), Foundation for Research and Technology FORTH (GR), Fundació TIC Salut Social (ES), Gnomon (GR), HL7 Europe, IEEE, IHE-Europe, IHE Catalyst, MedCom (DK), and Uninova (PT).

The members of the inaugural ESHIA Board of Directors are: Carla Alvarez Costa (Fundació TIC Salut Social), Giorgio Cangioli (HL7 Europe), Marc Lange (EHTEL), Karolina Mackiewicz (ECHAlliance – The Global Health Connector), Maria Palombini (IEEE), Claudio Saccavini (IHE Catalyst), Robert Stegwee (CEN/TC 251), Sylvia Thun (Charité), and Janos Vincze (IHE-Europe).

For more information go to https://ehr-exchange-format.eu/working-on- ehrxf/eshia/.

The xShare project

xShare- Expanding the European EHRxF to share and effectively use health data within the EHDS, is a research and innovation action, co-funded by the European Union (GA 101136734). The mission of the xShare project is that everyone can share their health data in the EEHRxF at the click-of-a-button. To attain its mission, xShare relies on three pillars, the “Hub”, the xShare “Yellow” Button, and the xShare Industry label. The xShare “Yellow” button for health portals and patient-facing apps will be used to effortlessly share personal health data in compliance with the GDPR in the EHDS. xShare partners working with SDOs, interoperability competence centers, Industry associations, regulators, and SMEs, aims to establish common European specifications and elements even beyond EHDS, fostering global collaboration and alignment across health care, population health, and clinical research. From hospital networks in Italy to regional in Spain and Portugal, and national portals in Greece, Cyprus, and Ireland, xShare promises a future of interconnected healthcare systems offering patients their health data in computable format based on HL7 FHIR. Through open calls for early adopters, xShare aspires that the “Yellow” Button is featured in close to 100 settings by the end of 2026.

For more information go to www.xshare-project.eu.

Media contact: Victor Barberà, communications manager in TIC Salut Social Foundation