HL7′s Working Group Meeting (WGM) is held three times per year, typically in January, May, and September. Historically, these meetings were held exclusively in the United States. As of 2007, one meeting per year is held outside the US in order to have HL7′s international community more easily participate in the standards-building process. In 2007, the “non-US” meeting was in Cologne, Germany while, in 2008, it is scheduled for Vancouver, BC, Canada. In 2009, there are rumors of holding it somewhere in the Pacific Rim, specifically Japan.
At a typical WGM, there are 350 to 500 attendees that volunteer their time to help push the HL7 standards forward. These attendees represent a mixture of healthcare software vendors and providers (clinics and hospitals). Prior to approximately 1998, the HL7 2.X messaging standard was very US-centric and had only been only influenced by internationalization help from Germany and The Netherlands. Since the early 2000s, HL7 has broadened membership to include many HL7 Affiliates outside the US.
Related posts:
- Interesting Article About HL7 V3 in Canada
- ACK Message – Original Mode Acknowledgement
- Does XML and/or UML Solve All of Our Healthcare Integration Issues?
- Who Is Using HL7 3.X Messaging?
- EMR Standards – A “C” Change




