The Projectathon is a testing session dedicated to a specific deployment project using a set of IHE Profiles in their interoperability specifications.
Participants to a Projectathon will test conformity and interoperability of their systems or solutions against the deployment project interoperability specifications based on IHE Profiles. For a Projectathon, the test plans and testing tools are customised to the specifics of the deployment projects. However, the Gazelle testing management platform can be effective in order to perform this set of tests and to verify that the systems have correctly implemented the interoperability specifications of the deployment projects.
The organisation which has the lead of the project has the responsibility to define the testing criteria for the project requirements and publishes the results at the end of the Projectathon. The testing session can be delegated to the IHE team where IHE is experienced and can provide the necessary skills for managing such a testing event. The Projectathon can be the preliminary event before any conformity assessment, quality label or certification process.
Below are examples of past Projectathons:
- epSOS Projectathons- The epSOS European Projectathon used the Projectathon facilities for testing cross-border exchanges of medical documents. Several IHE Profiles such as XDR, ATNA, CT, XCA, XCPD and BPPC were selected and embedded in the specifications. Five Projectathons have been set up since 2010.
- eHDSI Projectathons- Under the CEF programme (Connecting Europe Facility), the eHDSI operations (eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure) is now under the supervision of DG Santé which organises the Projectathons at the European Commission facilities with the support of the IHE team.
- EPD (PHR) Projectathon- The EPD (PHR) Projectathon in Switzerland was organised in Berne for the second time in September 2018 where 800 tests were verified for 23 companies. The Projectathon in Switzerland is the test preparation event for companies before the Suisse certification process.The Suisse specifications include several IHE Profiles and their national extensions.
The Projectathon is one step of the complete testing process from prototype, pre-pilot environment to the real world. The same testing environment will support each step of the testing process, organised as a face-to-face or a virtual testing event.
| Connectathon | Projectathon | |
|---|---|---|
| Governance | Under the supervision of IHE regional/national deployment. | Under the supervision of the project (the lead organisation). |
| Rules for passing | IHE test methods are used. Criteria are developed in the IHE Test Plan. |
Test methods are customised to fit the project specifications. Criteria are developed by the project. |
| Publication of the results | IHE Connectathon Results. | Published by the project (the lead organisation). |