Recognising the specific nature of European healthcare systems and their differing requirements, IHE-Europe encourages the setting up of IHE Deployment Committees at the national level.
The following European countries have National IHE Deployment Committees:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
An IHE National Deployment Committee supports and implements IHE activities within the respective country and often at the regional level within the country. IHE National Deployment Committees also assume the responsibility to represent the needs and requirements of their respective healthcare systems within activities of IHE-Europe. IHE National Deployment Committees are sponsored by national professional associations as well as health authorities. They include membership and staff of all stakeholder groups, including local hospital and vendor representatives.
A key role for an IHE National Deployment Committee is to coordinate the deployment of the IHE Technical Framework and Integration Profiles and to then give input to development of this documentation relevant to local needs and issues. Specific IHE documentation relevant to individual European countries is contained within the national extension annexes to the Technical Framework documents accessible through the respective IHE National Deployment Committee.
A key requirement for the establishment of an IHE National Deployment Committee in a country is the support of one or more IHE sponsors. The role of the national IHE sponsors, typically health authorities or professional associations, is to promote IHE, providing support, direction and resources to the IHE National Deployment Committee.