| HL7 or Health Level Seven is the glue that will hold | | | | - HL7 components are composed of |
| together the pieces of the electronic health record | | | | subcomponents (separated by a subcomponents |
| (EHR) of tomorrow. The world has an aging | | | | separator - typically the "&" character) |
| population which demands ever higher standards | | | | - HL7 fields may repeat (separated by a repetition |
| of healthcare. One key enabler of delivering that | | | | separator - typically the "~" character) |
| healthcare is providing the right information, at the | | | | Scope of HL7 Version 2 |
| right time to clinicians so that they can make | | | | HL7 V2 covers events, segments and messages |
| better decisions. HL7 is a communication and data | | | | for a diverse range of health information domains. |
| protocol that allows information gathered by care | | | | These include |
| providers and service providers in one application | | | | - patient administration |
| to be accessible to other care providers and | | | | - pathology/radiology order entry and results |
| service providers in other applications. | | | | reporting |
| History of HL7 | | | | - medication management (including prescribing, |
| HL7 was developed by | | | | dispensing, and administration |
| HL7 Inc a not for profit ANSI accredited | | | | - document management |
| development organisation. | | | | - appointment scheduling |
| HL7 Message StructureHL7 messages have the | | | | - primary care referral |
| following structure: | | | | - problem oriented record |
| - HL7 messages are composed of segments | | | | - laboratory automation |
| (separated by a carriage return character - | | | | - master files (code tables) |
| hexadecimal 0A) | | | | HL7 Version 3 - A new beginning |
| - HL7 segments are composed of fields | | | | HL7 V3 represents a departure from the V2 |
| (separated by a field separator - typically the "|" | | | | approach. HL7 V3 uses a well defined |
| character) | | | | methodology based on a reference information |
| - HL7 fields are composed of components | | | | model (RIM). HL7 V3 has been under development |
| (separated by a components separator - typically | | | | for some time and represents the future focus |
| the "^" character) | | | | of the HL7 standards process. |