HL7 Resources
HL7 Introduction
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HL7 (Health Level 7): An ANSI standard for healthcare specific data exchange between computer applications. The name comes from "Health Level 7", which refers to the top layer (Level 7) of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) layer protocol for the health environment. |
The Need for HL7
Hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare centres around the world require the ability to send and receive heathcare data, including patient information and various lab reports. As a result, vast amounts of healthcare information are exchanged on a daily basis. However, medical data can be extremely complicated due to the abundance of clinical terminology, as well as the structural complexity in the formation of the presented information. Thus, this information must be presented in a standardized format in order to ensure that the data is universally understood and organized. In order to achieve this, all healthcare information must be sent in a specialized healthcare language.
The language that has been developed to overcome these obstacles is HL7. The HL7 protocol was developed by the Health Level 7 Organization, which consists of grammar and vocabulary that is standardized so that clinical data can be shared amongst all healthcare systems, and easily understood by all. By using the HL7 messaging protocol as a standard, all systems following the HL7 specifications are able to communicate easily with one another, without the need for information conversion.
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MSH|^~\&|EPIC|EPICADT|SMS|SMSADT|199912271408|CHARRIS|ADT^A04|1817457| EVN|A04|199912271408|||CHARRIS PID||0493575^^^2^ID 1|454721||DOE^JOHN^^^^|DOE^JOHN^^^^|19480203|M| NK1||CONROY^MARI^^^^|SPO||(216)731-4359||EC||||||||||||||||||||||||||| PV1||O|168 ~219~C~PMA^^^^^^^^^||||277^ALLEN FADZL^BONNIE^^^^|||||||||| |
Sample HL7 Message
For a more thorough and technical understanding of the HL7 messaging protocol, please visit the HL7 section in our online manual. Here you can learn about the specific components of an HL7 message and more.
HL7 Solutions
Problems with HL7, and Software Solutions that are available
As ideal as HL7 sounds, there are some issues that arise since vendors do not strictly adhere to the HL7 standards. HL7 messages may not be constructed properly, and they tend to lack specific segments, lack required fields, or even contain unexpected segments. In addition to this, there are many different flavors of HL7, which, along with inconsistent implementations, result in complications during the communications process. Systems that were designed to handle standard HL7 messages may no longer be able to do so, due to the variations in message formatting. Thus, even though HL7 is designed to be the standard, it fails when vendors do not implement the HL7 protocol correctly.
As a result, iNTERFACEWARE develops HL7 software solutions, providing middleware to bridge the communication gap between healthcare systems. With the products Chameleon and Iguana, all HL7 messages, regardless of missing/additional segments and independent of flavor, can be easily handled. The HL7 standard becomes the actual standard once again. With iNTERFACEWARE's easy solutions that are implemented in a snap, you can ensure that healthcare systems will be happily communicating with one another in no time.
With iNTERFACEWARE products, you can rest assured that your healthcare messages are sent and received in accordance to exact HL7 specifications. Simple to set up, and easy to implement, iNTERFACEWARE truly is, 'integration made easy'.
HL7 Products
At iNTERFACEWARE, we provide HL7 products that overcome the current 'non-standard' HL7 protocol implementations that can be problematic. As a result, our products ensure that you will experience flawless HL7 communication between all your systems.
Chameleon - HL7 Messaging Toolkit
Chameleon is the industry leading HL7 messaging toolkit for enabling applications to communicate using the HL7 standard. This messaging engine also comes with built-in HL7 XML conversion functionality.
Iguana - HL7 Integration Engine
Iguana enables message routing and transformation between information systems. Iguana also allows for bi-directional HL7 to database communication, with no programming required.