eHealth Suisse

eHealth Suisse is the Swiss Competence and Coordination Centre of the Confederation and the Cantons. It was founded in 2007 and is primarily responsible for implementation of the Swiss eHealth Strategy 2.0, coordination and information for the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) project and standardisation of technical and semantic interoperability.

eHealth Suisse’s administrative offices are responsible for coordination and collaboration with the organisation’s committees and working groups, members of which include the Confederation, Cantons, EPR communities, professional organisations and associations in the healthcare sector and the private sector. The administrative offices are housed in the premises of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) in Liebefeld (Canton Bern).

Internal link: Subscribe to our newsletter

External link: Official EPR information site

External link: Order or download publications about the EPR

Internal link: Any questions? Contact us here

External link: eHealth Suisse activity report 2022 (in German) (687 KB, 10/04/23)

In Switzerland, responsibility for organising and providing healthcare lies with the Cantons (authorisation of healthcare institutions, contributions to healthcare professionals’ training, regulation of healthcare professions, public health literacy, etc.) To have an impact, however, eHealth projects have to be able to function beyond cantonal boundaries. People in Switzerland are highly mobile these days – they move house, change medical practice or to on outings to other regions. In addition, the healthcare professions are becoming ever more specialised. As a result, patients’ treatment often involves several healthcare professionals. Important health information that is needed for treatment is often unavailable at the crucial moment.

The solution is to link up all the digital data nationally. The Confederation and Cantons therefore concluded a framework agreement in 2007, creating a Competence and Coordination Centre of the Confederation and the Cantons – eHealth Suisse. Since 2017, eHealth Suisse has also been responsible for formal enforcement tasks arising from the Federal Act on the Electronic Patient Record (EPRA) and for coordinating implementation of the national EPR project in collaboration with the FOPH, CMPH, EPR communities and the partners in its committees. Furthermore, eHealth Suisse has been assisting with the implementation of the public awareness campaign for the Electronic Patient Record.

The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) and Swiss Conference of the Cantonal Ministers of Public Health (CMPH) signed a framework agreement in 2007 for the
purpose of implementing the Swiss eHealth Strategy. The first Strategy covered the period from 2006 to 2015 and was extended until the Federal Act on the Electronic Patient Record (EPRA) came into force in 2017. With the entry into force of EPRA, eHealth Suisse was assigned new tasks to support implementation of the EPR. To take account of these, the FDHA and CMPH signed a new framework agreement in spring 2017.

The Confederation and Cantons are supporting the eHealth Suisse Competence and Coordination Centre in implementing the Swiss eHealth Strategy 2.0 of 2017. In line with their respective responsibilities, they define organisational, legal and technical parameters for the development of eHealth applications, particularly the Electronic Patient Record (EPR).

External link: eHealth Suisse framework agreement 2017 (in German) (2.9 MB, 10/04/23)

External link: Explanatory notes on the eHealth agreement between the CMPH and FDHA 2017 (in German) (291 KB, 10/04/23)

External link: Swiss eHealth Strategy 2.0 (in German) (2.7 MB, 10/04/23)

Between 2007 and 2017, the coordination centre eHealth Suisse was instrumental in laying the technical foundations for the introduction of the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) by issuing legally non-binding recommendations. With the entry into force of the Federal Act on the Electronic Patient Record (EPRA) in April 2017, eHealth Suisse assumed formal enforcement tasks:

  • Selecting, supplementing and updating norms, standards and integration profiles (Art. 12 para. 1 let. a EPRA) on the basis of international standards
  • Developing and updating the conceptual and technical foundations of the certification requirements (Art. 12 para. 1 EPRA)
  • Preparing, supplementing and updating the requirements for the technical components (Art. 14 EPRA)
  • Information work (Art. 15 EPRA)
  • Coordination (Art. 16 EPRA)

However, digitalising healthcare goes beyond implementation of the EPR. eHealth Suisse is also involved in standardising norms for mobile applications (mHealth) and experience-sharing and coordination at international level.