Extending the IHE initiative to Europe: experiences

Abstract The IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) initiative has recently developed into a multinational effort that addresses the specific needs of healthcare systems in North America, many European countries as well as Japan. The introduction of IHE in Europe is a particular challenge because the structure of the healthcare sector deviates significantly from country to country, with different legislation, language, medical and organisational procedures and hospital information systems (HIS)/RIS systems that are typically tailored towards a specific national market. Experiences in Europe show that IHE cannot simply be copied, but has to be adapted to the specificities of national healthcare systems. However, these are only of minor nature compared to the overall complexity of the transactions involved.