HL7 or Health Level Seven is the glue that will hold together the pieces of the electronic health record (EHR) of tomorrow. The world has an aging population which demands ever higher standards of healthcare. One key enabler of delivering that healthcare is providing the right information, at the right time to clinicians so that they can make better decisions. HL7 is a communication and data protocol that allows information gathered by care providers and service providers in one application to be accessible to other care providers and service providers in other applications.
History of HL7
HL7 was developed by HL7 Inc a not for profit ANSI accredited development organisation.
HL7 Message Structure
HL7 messages have the following structure:
- HL7 messages are composed of segments (separated by a carriage return character – hexadecimal 0A)
- HL7 segments are composed of fields (separated by a field separator – typically the "|" character)
- HL7 fields are composed of components (separated by a components separator – typically the "^" character)
- HL7 components are composed of subcomponents (separated by a subcomponents separator – typically the "&" character)
- HL7 fields may repeat (separated by a repetition separator – typically the "~" character)
Scope of HL7 Version 2
HL7 V2 covers events, segments and messages for a diverse range of health information domains. These include
- patient administration
- pathology/radiology order entry and results reporting
- medication management (including prescribing, dispensing, and administration
- document management
- appointment scheduling
- primary care referral
- problem oriented record
- laboratory automation
- master files (code tables)
HL7 Version 3 – A new beginning
HL7 V3 represents a departure from the V2 approach. HL7 V3 uses a well defined methodology based on a reference information model (RIM). HL7 V3 has been under development for some time and represents the future focus of the HL7 standards process.
For more information on the HL7 standard and HL7 services please visit the Gillogley Services web site. Peter Gillogley is the Director of Gillogley Services. |
1 comment:
"HL7 version 3 has been under development for some time" - this ignores the fact that both the development methodology, the RIM, as well as a multitude of v3 messages are already normative; and have been implemented in multiple countries.
It also seems to ignore the fact that CDA, a normative electronic document standard based on v3, is used in an even larger number of countries & projects.
To equate HL7 with "HL7 version 2" is a statement that's just too simplistic nowadays - HL7 has defined, and is in the process of defining, a family of standards of which HL7 version 2, and HL7 version 3 are just examples.
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