New ballot opened for the European Patient Summary FHIR Implementation Guide
Brussels, 17 June 2026 – HL7 Europe opened today a ballot for the European Patient Summary FHIR Implementation Guide (1.0.0-ballot). This Implementation Guide specifies the FHIR representation of the European Patient Summary, enabling the interoperable exchange of a patient’s essential health information across European healthcare systems.
The development of this Implementation Guide has been supported by the Xt-EHR Joint Action. It builds upon HL7 International’s International Patient Summary (IPS) specification and aligns with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and MyHealth@EU interoperability framework. It provides:
- European FHIR profiles for the Patient Summary dataset
- Mappings to the European logical models
- Guidance for cross-border interoperability
- Example implementations and conformance requirements
This ballot represents the first Standard for Trial Use (STU1) release of the specification. Anyone is invited to submit comments (instructions are available below), but per HL7 Europe’s statutes only HL7 Europe affiliates may cast official ballot votes. The deadline for ballots and comments is 31 August 2026.
The relevant links:
- Implementation Guide: https://hl7.eu/fhir/eps/1.0.0-ballot/
- Submit comments (HL7 Jira): https://jira.hl7.org/
- Cast vote: https://confluence.hl7.org/x/jQXpGw
- Ballot period: 1 July – 31 August 2026
HL7 Europe welcomes comments from the entire community via HL7 Jira (instructions are available below), but per HL7 statutes only HL7 Europe affiliates may cast official ballot votes. Designated voting members are the HL7 Europe Technical Network Team (TNT) members, or the national affiliate chair (or their deputy) if a country is not represented in the TNT.
How to comment contribute?
- Go to https://jira.hl7.org/
- (Register for a free user account, authenticate…)
- When in, click on “Create” and in the following issue interface with drop-down lists
- Under “Project” select “FHIR Specification Feedback” (default choice)
- Under “Issue” select change request: Technical correction, comment…)
- Under “Specification” type “EU” and select the relevant IG
- Then enter your comments; add relevant attachments if applicable
- In the end, don’t forget to click “Create”
For a full set of instructions go to https://confluence.hl7.org/x/4AAkAQ
For an explanatory video from HL7 Europe Technical Lead Giorgio Cangioli, go to the recording of the 13 June 2025 webinar on “The HL7 Europe Imaging Study FHIR IG and how to contribute”: click here. (The link starts at minute 40 of the recording but the entire webinar may be helpful).
About HL7 Europe: HL7 Europe is a not-for-profit Foundation established in Brussels in 2010 with the aim to address European standardisation requirements in digital health serving as the European office of HL7 International. The mission of HL7 Europe is to provide standards that empower global health data interoperability to realise its vision of a world in which everyone can securely access and use the right health data when and where they need it. It works in close cooperation with 23 national HL7 Affiliates across Europe and supports the creation of health information technology standards that are widely and easily used enabling interoperability in healthcare.
