Digital Health Slovakia – Strengthening interoperability skills within the XiA project
As part of its communication and dissemination activities, the XiA project regularly highlights the organisations involved in the consortium and its associated network. These partners play a key role in advancing interoperability skills and supporting preparedness for the European Health Data Space (EHDS) across Europe. As the first organisation featured in the campaign, XiA is pleased to introduce Digital Health Slovakia, a consortium member active in digital health, standards, and interoperability.
Digital Health Slovakia is a non-profit organisation based in Slovakia and the official HL7 International affiliate in the country. Its work focuses on digital health and healthcare interoperability, with particular emphasis on health data standards, implementation support, and skills development in the context of the EHDS and other European digital health policies. By connecting healthcare, IT, and policy stakeholders, the organisation helps translate interoperability requirements into practical implementation and capacity-building actions.
According to Eva Sabajová, President of Digital Health Slovakia and Chair of HL7 Slovakia, participation in XiA addresses a clearly identified need:
“We joined XiA to contribute to strengthening interoperability skills in alignment with the EHDS. The project addresses a clear gap between regulatory developments and implementation capacity in Member States. XiA provides a structured framework for skills alignment across Europe and enables exchange of experience between national ecosystems facing similar challenges.”
This perspective closely aligns with XiA’s objective of supporting professionals and organisations in their preparation for the EHDS.
From the partner’s point of view, the challenges XiA addresses are both structural and practical:
“A key challenge is the lack of interoperability knowledge and skills capacity. Skills gaps exist between the interoperability requirements defined in the EHDS regulations and the expected implementing acts, and the expertise available among professionals working in the health sector. Training pathways are often fragmented and not aligned with emerging EHDS requirements. XiA addresses the need for harmonised competencies and a common reference framework across roles and countries.”
By tackling these challenges, XiA helps make interoperability concepts more understandable and actionable across diverse professional contexts.
In Slovakia, interoperability and health data exchange are still largely driven by individual experts, professional communities, and project-based initiatives rather than by coordinated national implementation. At present, no comprehensive national roadmap or sustained institutional programme exists for areas such as EHDS alignment, HL7 FHIR adoption, or SNOMED CT implementation. Consequently, awareness and practical expertise remain uneven, with limited formal education or structured capacity-building on interoperability. Community-driven initiatives such as the Digital Health Slovakia Forum play a crucial role in connecting stakeholders and maintaining continuity of expertise.
Within the XiA project, Digital Health Slovakia has primarily contributed to needs analysis activities and supports national and regional dissemination. This involvement helps ensure that XiA’s outputs remain relevant, practical, and firmly grounded in real-world needs.