HL7 or Health Level Seven is the glue that will hold together the pieces of the electronic health record (EHR) of tomorrow. The world has an aging population which demands ever higher standards of healthcare. One key enabler of delivering that healthcare is providing the right information, at the right time to clinicians so that they can make better decisions. HL7 is a communication and data protocol that allows information gathered by care providers and service providers in one application to be accessible to other care providers and service providers in other applications.
History of HL7
HL7 was developed by HL7 Inc a not for profit ANSI accredited development organisation.
HL7 Message Structure
HL7 messages have the following structure: