What is HL7 in healthcare information systems?

HL7, which stands for Health Level 7, is a set of standards for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information in healthcare information systems. It is a protocol that defines how software applications communicate health information between different healthcare systems and applications. HL7 standards ensure the accurate and timely exchange of clinical and administrative data among various healthcare providers, patients, and payers. By adhering to HL7 standards, healthcare organizations can improve interoperability, data accuracy, patient care, and cost-effectiveness.

What are the HL7 standards?

HL7 (Health Level Seven) standards are a set of international standards that govern the design, development, and implementation of healthcare information systems. These standards ensure that healthcare systems can communicate and exchange data seamlessly and accurately, regardless of the systems used by different healthcare providers.

There are several primary and other HL7 standards that healthcare software development companies follow to ensure streamlined data exchange. These standards include:

Version 2 messaging: This standard defines how messages are structured and what messages can be exchanged between healthcare systems based on segments, fields, and data types.

Version 3 messaging: This standard also defines the structure and context of messages but in an object-oriented approach.

Clinical Document Architecture: This standard defines the structure and semantics that must be followed when sharing clinical documents.

Continuity of Care Document: This standard defines the encoding, structure, and semantics for exchanging medical summaries.

Structured Product Labelling: This standard sets the norms for the information published for prescribed and labeled medicines.

Clinical Context Object Workgroup: This standard sets the norms for real-time synchronization of applications at the user interface level.

Other HL7 standards that ensure streamlined data exchange include Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), Services Aware Interoperability Framework (SAIF), Arden Syntax, and Minimum Lower Layer Protocol.

Why does healthcare need HL7?

Healthcare organizations need HL7 (Health Level Seven) because it is a standardized format for exchanging electronic health information between different healthcare systems and applications.

The healthcare industry is highly fragmented, with various systems and applications used by different organizations to store and manage patient information. These systems and applications may use different data formats and structures, making it difficult to exchange information between them. HL7 provides a common language for healthcare systems to communicate with each other, making it easier to share patient information across different organizations and systems.

HL7 messages include patient demographics, laboratory test results, radiology reports, medication orders, and other types of clinical data. By using HL7, healthcare organizations can improve patient safety and quality of care by reducing the likelihood of errors and improving the accuracy and completeness of patient information.

In addition, HL7 is important for interoperability, which refers to the ability of different systems to work together seamlessly. Interoperability is critical for providing coordinated care, sharing information between providers and patients, and achieving population health goals. HL7 standards help to ensure that different systems and applications can communicate with each other, which is essential for achieving interoperability.

How HL7 has Improved Interoperability in Healthcare

HL7 (Health Level Seven) has improved interoperability in healthcare in several ways:

• Standardization: HL7 provides a standardized format for the exchange of healthcare information between different systems and applications. This standardization enables healthcare organizations to seamlessly share patient data across different platforms.

• Consistency: HL7 ensures that data is consistent and can be understood by different systems and applications. By using consistent data formats, healthcare organizations can reduce errors and ensure that information is accurate and complete.

• Flexibility: HL7 is flexible and can be adapted to meet the specific needs of different healthcare organizations. This flexibility allows healthcare organizations to customize HL7 messages to fit their unique workflows and information exchange requirements.

• Integration: HL7 enables the integration of different healthcare systems and applications. By integrating different systems, healthcare organizations can streamline processes and improve patient outcomes.

• Improved communication: HL7 allows healthcare providers to communicate more effectively and efficiently by enabling real-time data exchange between different systems and applications. This improved communication helps healthcare providers make better-informed decisions and provide better care to their patients.