The Competence Centre for Interoperability in German Healthcare system paces, encourages and demands better standards in medicine and works closely with various institutions and stakeholders - in line with the mandate in the Digital law.The Interop Council provides the competence centre with sound advice, and the IOP Expert Group expands the network in order to jointly harmonize the various activities in the context of interoperability.
The Competence Centre assumes holistic end-to-end process responsibility.
The Competence Centre for Interoperability in German Healthcare
The guiding hand in interoperability governance
The Competence Centre in a nutshell
The Competence Centre is part of gematik and is a logical further development based on the work of the coordination centre. The mandate includes the following tasks in particular:
- Central coordination and prioritisation of requirements
- Development, commissioning and definition of standards, profiles, guidelines, information models, reference architectures and software components
- Certification of primary systems by means of conformity assessment to determine whether binding standards have been implemented in a compliant manner
- Transparent public relations work through the operation and the further development of the INA knowledge platform and Listing of conformity assessment certified systems
- Organisation and administration of all necessary processes cooperation and follow-up of the results and reports for the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG)
The IOP Expert Group
In order to carry out the tasks of the GIGV properly and professionally, a group of experts must be established to provide expertise on the various requirements. The IOP Expert Group currently comprises more than 260 experts who are involved in various formats, such as working groups on different topics, and are thus committed to greater proximity to care and user-centredness.
The IOP Expert Group is under the responsibility of the Competence Centre for Interoperability in Healthcare. It is generally open to people from various specialist groups who can demonstrate relevant expertise.
IOP Working Group
Initiating an IOP Working Group requires specific expertise on a particular topic that the Interop Council cannot cover and implement efficiently. It also enables a broader involvement of various specialist areas. The result of an assignment can be, for example, specifications, expert reports or similar. An Interoperability Working Group is made up of a member of the Interop Council as chair and experts from the IOP Expert Group.
Contact
Stefan Höcherl has been working at gematik GmbH since April 2020, where he leads the Strategy and Standards department and, since 2021, the National Coordination Center for Interoperability. He is responsible for the transformation of the National Coordination Center into the Federal Competence Center for Interoperability in Healthcare (KIG) and leads it. Stefan Höcherl previously held various positions in the healthcare sector, helping to shape the future and working as a consultant for an industry association and for strategy and public affairs consultancies specializing in healthcare and digital pharma in Berlin.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact KIG[at]gematik(dot)de.