HL7 is a standard for exchanging information between medical applications and is an abbreviation of "Health Level Seven". "Level Seven" refers to the seventh OSI layer protocol for the health environment. In general terms, HL7 is a protocol for data exchange. It defines the format and the content of the messages that applications must use when exchanging data with each another in various circumstances.
Hospitals and other medical institutions typically use many different types of systems to communicate with one another. Everything, from patient records to billing information, is tracked and recorded in computer systems. In order for these different types of systems to communicate with each other, they use a standard like HL7.
In the computer world, a protocol is a formal, well-defined standard for exchanging
information between computer applications.
