Digitalizing Health Information Systems in the WHO European Region and Advancing Interoperability with WHO Classifications (ICD-11, ICF, ICHI)

The digital transformation of Health Information Systems (HIS) is pivotal in achieving resilient, equitable, and data-driven health systems across the globe, especially in the WHO European Region. Countries are making significant investments in digital health infrastructure to enhance the quality, accessibility, and timeliness of health data. A cornerstone of this transformation is improving interoperability—both technical and semantic—to ensure that health data can be exchanged, interpreted, and utilized effectively across various systems, sectors, and borders. Despite growing advancements, significant challenges persist in achieving seamless interoperability, particularly semantic interoperability, which is critical for enabling different health systems to "speak the same language.”

This Research Topic aims to explore and address the challenges and opportunities in digitalizing health information systems (HIS) across the WHO European Region. It focuses particularly on understanding how countries are leveraging WHO Reference Classifications, ICD-11, ICF, and ICHI, to standardize health data recording, enhance data comparability and cross-border data exchange. The new ICD-11, ICF, and ICHI are scientifically updated, digital tools that offer robust solutions for harmonizing health data, supporting evidence-based decision-making, and driving the development of interoperable digital health ecosystems. By inviting contributions from researchers, policymakers, health information specialists, and digital health practitioners, this Research Topic seeks to gather evidence on implementation experiences and innovations that demonstrate the potential of these classifications in transforming health systems.

To gather further insights into the digital transformation of HIS in the WHO European Region, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• National strategies for HIS digitalization
• Semantic and technical interoperability: methods to achieve it in health data systems
• Implementation experiences with WHO Reference Classifications, including ICD-11, ICF, and ICHI
• Digital tools and platforms supporting the use of WHO classifications
• Data quality and health system performance
• Capacity building and technical readiness, particularly for the European Health Data Space (EHDS) implementation
• Lessons learned from cross-border data exchange and regional collaboration initiatives
• Ethics, governance, and policy frameworks that enable digital transformation
• Alignment with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Framework
• Secondary use of health data for research and innovation.

This Research Topic was launched in collaboration with the 10th Digital Public Health Conference, a world-leading annual interdisciplinary event on research and innovation in digital public health, organized by University College London. We welcome submissions from speakers, attendees and the broader research community.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: health information systems, digital transformation, digital health, WHO classifications

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.