What Are Connectathons and Why Are They Key to Interoperability in Healthcare

Imagine having a medical emergency in an unfamiliar city. The team treating you needs to know, within minutes, whether you’re allergic to any medications, what treatment you’re receiving, or if you’ve recently had surgery. But your data is stored elsewhere: on paper or in a computer system that doesn’t “communicate” with the one at the hospital where you’re being treated. This scenario remains an everyday reality in much of the world.

In digital health, the biggest challenge isn’t collecting data, but ensuring that different information systems—those of the hospital, the laboratory, the pharmacy, and the ministry—can exchange and use that data. This capability is called interoperability, and it requires that all systems speak the same language under standards that define how a medical record, a prescription, or a lab result is structured and shared. But interoperability is not the end goal: it is the vehicle, and value emerges when the exchanged information is actually used to provide better care for a person—for example, during a consultation, in an emergency, or in a public health decision.

At the same time, agreeing on standards alone does not guarantee that systems can exchange information seamlessly. Before implementing them in hospitals and health centers, it is necessary to test them under real-world conditions. That is why “connectathons” exist: events where technical teams verify that their systems can communicate with one another, detect faults, and correct them before deployment. 

In Latin America and the Caribbean, connectathons are part of the Pan American Highway for Digital Health (PH4H). The PH4H is an initiative led by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the countries of the region, which aims to ensure that people can access their health data and services no matter where they are, facilitating continuity of care within and between countries.

A digital health connectathon is a collaborative lab where technical teams from hospitals, governments, and companies in different countries test their health information systems in real time. Over the course of several days, they connect their platforms, exchange clinical data, and verify that they can communicate correctly using common standards.

The goal is not to compete, but to verify that the systems can communicate securely and efficiently before being deployed in real-world settings. To achieve this, the teams simulate clinical cases, identify problems, adjust their solutions, and retest them until functional integration is achieved. In this way, they verify—across different countries—that information flows correctly under international standards.

This methodology has been promoted globally by the initiative IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) since 2000. Today, it is used in various parts of the world to accelerate the adoption of interoperability standards and strengthen the technical capabilities of teams that develop and implement digital health solutions. 

At Connectathons, teams gain experience by testing their own systems. This process allows them to identify problems, make adjustments in real time, and strengthen participants’ technical capabilities. At the same time, it prepares them to join international initiatives such as the WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network and the PH4H trust domain.

Five reasons why they work:

1. Collaboration: No one “wins” a connectathon—the region moves forward when everyone succeeds.
2. Expert guidance: Specialized facilitators oversee each exercise and address questions on the spot, building capacity within the national teams.
3. Real-world use cases: Abstract functions are not validated; instead, specific clinical workflows are tested: issuing a vaccination certificate, sharing a patient’s clinical summary, verifying a prescription.
4. Accelerated iteration: Flaws are detected and corrected within minutes or hours; outside this environment, that same cycle would take months.
5. Institutional support: The ministries of health themselves participate, turning every technical advance into a public policy commitment.

The region’s first Connectathon was held in Uruguay in 2016, during the implementation of the National Electronic Health Record. Building on that experience, the IDB and PAHO, together with the LAC Digital Health Network (RACSEL), promoted regional connectathons, which—with the launch of the PH4H—became a key tool for strengthening interoperability among countries.

Since then, each edition has included more countries and technical challenges

These are not behind-closed-doors marathons: today, thanks to these processes, countries such as Costa Rica and El Salvador have been able to issue digital vaccination certificates against yellow fever—secure, globally verifiable documents that reduce fraud and prevent duplication. Additionally, in Uruguay, the platform tested during the 2016 Connectathon for 2020 recorded clinical documents equivalent to 80% of the country’s healthcare output, resulting in fewer duplicate tests and more efficient care. Meanwhile, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina made progress with national connectathons, utilizing tools and lessons learned from the PH4H connectathons to support the countries’ needs.