Version: 1.0.0
Status: Published
Authors: freshEHR Clinical Informatics Ltd (Heidi Koikkalainen, Joost Holslag, David Jobling)
Publication Date: 22nd June 2026
Updated: 23rd September 2026
As a Dutch standards organisation for health information, Nictiz has a responsibility to help incorporate the European Health Data Space (EHDS) into the Dutch health information system. An important part of this work is the continued development of the Dutch Health and Care Information Models (zibs).
The next generation of zibs will build on international clinical information models and standards. Relevant artefacts include openEHR archetypes and HL7 FHIR resources and profiles, each with their own role in representing clinical meaning and supporting information exchange. This assessment does not presuppose the adoption of a particular technical platform or supplier solution. It examines whether existing international models can be reused and aligned with EHDS requirements.
Nictiz commissioned this assessment to establish how well international openEHR archetypes align with the EHDS Logical Models, initially within the scope of the European Patient Summary. Such alignment is relevant to the future development of zibs and other national modelling activities. The results may also support suppliers and implementers, including those using openEHR, in preparing for emerging EHDS requirements.
The assessment shows that the main challenge is not whether EHDS Logical Models and openEHR archetypes can be aligned, but how this alignment can be maintained as both modelling ecosystems continue to evolve. This requires ongoing stewardship, clear governance, transparent change processes and sustained collaboration between the communities involved.
We hope this work will encourage a broader European coalition to continue this alignment. No single organisation or modelling community can maintain it independently. Cooperation is needed between national competence centres, European programmes, standards organisations, clinical modelling communities and implementers.
This report should therefore be read as a contribution to the broader alignment of national, European and international information models, and as a starting point for further collaboration, governance and implementation across the Nictiz, EHDS, openEHR and HL7 FHIR communities.
- Wouter Zanen, Informatiearchitect, Nictiz