What Is the HL7 Standard?

What is HL7? HL7 is a Standards Developing Organization accredited by the American National Standards Institute to author consensus-based standards representing a broad view from healthcare system stakeholders. What this definition means from a practical standpoint is that HL7 has compiled a collection of message formats and related clinical standards that loosely define an ideal presentation of clinical information, and together the standards provide a framework in which data may be exchanged.

The HL7 standard is often called the “non-standard standard.” While not entirely fair, it does reflect the fact that almost every hospital, clinic, imaging center, lab, and care facility is “special” and, therefore, there is no such thing as a standard business or clinical model for interacting with patients, clinical data, or related personnel.

Visit our HL7 Overview page for additional information.