Costa Rica's Ministry of Health, the State Distance University (UNED) and GS1 Costa Rica are hosting the National Interoperability Meeting 2026 (Encuentro Nacional de Interoperabilidad), an initiative declared of national interest. Over three days, the public sector, academia, international organizations and companies discuss how to connect health information efficiently to improve processes and deliver safer care.

October 7, 8 and 9, 2026 · Hotel Crowne Plaza Corobicí, San José, Costa Rica.

Each day has its own focus: interoperability and standards; digital transformation in health; and governance and applied innovation, which closes with a hackathon on national cases.

The sessions are held in Spanish.

Meddyg at the Meeting

On day one, in the session "FHIR (HL7) as a common clinical language: enabling structured data exchange" (11:20 – 11:55), Alejandro Benavides Garro from Meddyg takes part together with César Galindo from HL7 Chile.

You can watch the invitation video shared by the organizers.

Day 1 · October 7: Interoperability and standards

  1. 7:30 – 8:50Registration and breakfast
  2. 8:50 – 9:00Welcome
  3. 9:00 – 9:20The evolution of Digital Health in Costa Rica: actions and progress from the Ministry of HealthDeivert Guiltrichs Cordero, Ministry of Health
  4. 9:20 – 9:40Health interoperability: from technical concept to national architectureIván Rojas Granados, Ministry of Health
  5. 9:40 – 10:00Transition to the press conference
  6. 10:00 – 11:00Press conferencePresident of the Republic Laura Fernández Delgado; Minister of Health Dr. Alexander Sánchez Cabo; Minister of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications Paula Bogantes Zamora
  7. 11:00 – 11:20Break
  8. 11:20 – 11:55FHIR (HL7) as a common clinical language: enabling structured data exchangeCésar Galindo, HL7 Chile (virtual) · Alejandro Benavides Garro, Meddyg
  9. 11:55 – 12:30The structural identification role of GS1 standardsLuis Panigua, GS1 Costa Rica
  10. 12:30 – 13:05Panel: Clinical semantics and interoperability (virtual)Moderated by Dr. Luis Yglesias Barahona, Ministry of Health. With Juan Carlos Díaz Rico (PAHO), Víctor Medina (SNOMED CT), Tomás Moraleda (MedDRA) and Esteban Hebel (LOINC)
  11. 13:05 – 13:20Day 1 closingDr. Juan Carlos Esquivel Sánchez, Vice Minister of Health

Day 2 · October 8: Digital transformation in health

  1. 8:00 – 9:00Welcome breakfast
  2. 9:00 – 9:05Welcome
  3. 9:05 – 10:00Panel: Digital Health in the Americas, regional frameworks for interoperability (virtual)Moderated by Adriana Salazar González, Ministry of Health. With Carlos Aguilar (SE-COMISCA), Deivert Guiltrichs Cordero (Ministry of Health), Manuel Rodriguez Arce (CCSS) and Carlos Javier Núñez Contreras (RACSEL)
  4. 10:00 – 10:40Digital transformation: technology with an impact on healthDr. Alexei Carrillo Villegas, CCSS
  5. 10:45 – 11:25Panel: Health data governance and ethics, trust and sustainabilityModerated by Natalia Vega Angulo. With Nutricare, Wendy Rivera Roman (CCSS), Karla Quesada Rodríguez (Prodhab), Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez Cubillo (CCSS), Maria del Rosario Heras Carrasco (FIAPP) and Dr. Alejandro Alfieri Marín (CCSS)
  6. 11:25 – 11:45Break
  7. 11:50 – 12:35Technology with purpose: humanizing digital healthDr. Ruy Vargas Baldares, CCSS
  8. 12:35 – 12:50Hackathon participation rulesDr. Patricia Sagot
  9. 12:50 – 13:00Day 2 closingMinistry of Health, UNED and GS1 Costa Rica

Day 3 · October 9: Governance and applied innovation

  1. 8:00 – 9:00Welcome breakfast
  2. 9:00 – 9:05Welcome
  3. 9:05 – 9:30Applied AI and model training: data quality as the foundationMarvin Suárez Benson, UNED
  4. 9:30 – 10:00GS1 standards and data analyticsJose Ugalde Rodríguez, GS1 Costa Rica
  5. 10:00 – 10:10Team set-up and introduction of the jury
  6. 10:15 – 10:45National cases, methodology and evaluation criteriaDr. Patricia Sagot
  7. 10:45 – 12:45Hackathon: collaborative team workStandards integration, proposal design and technical mentoring
  8. 12:45 – 13:45Lunch
  9. 13:45 – 14:45Proposal presentations and jury evaluation
  10. 14:45 – 15:00Jury deliberation
  11. 15:00 – 15:15Awards
  12. 15:15 – 15:30Closing of the National Interoperability MeetingAllan Mora Vargas, Vice Minister

Lead-up: October 1 webinar

As a lead-up to the Meeting, the organizers held the online webinar "Interoperability in the Health sector: from identification to action," with Deivert Guiltrichs Cordero, head of the Innovation and Digital Transformation Unit at Costa Rica's Ministry of Health.

Invitation to the webinar "Interoperability in the Health sector: from identification to action"
Invitation to the webinar "Interoperability in the Health sector: from identification to action"

Registration and entry

Registration is handled by the organizers. Registered attendees receive their QR entry code a few days before the event. More information on the official Meeting website.

Questions: sac@gs1cr.org or WhatsApp +506 8681-8064.

At Meddyg we're sharing this invitation because of its relevance to the health interoperability and standards community in Costa Rica. See you there.