Health Level Seven (HL7)’s
Version 2.x (HL7 V2.x): HL7 V2.x messaging standard is the workhorse of electronic
data exchange in the clinical domain and arguably the most
widely implemented standard for healthcare in the world. This
messaging standard allows the exchange of clinical data
between systems. It is designed to support a central patient care
system as well as a more distributed environment where data
resides in departmental systems. The HL7 V2.x Message
Profiling informative document (2000) provides a guideline for
documenting particular uses of HL7 messages. A defined V2.x
message profile will be registered with HL7 and may be reused
by other HL7 users, moving the HL7 V2.x standard closer to
“plug and play” interfaces. With consistent and complete
documentation, HL7 V2.x interface partners will explicitly
understand what data will be passed, the format in which the
data will be passed and, the acknowledgement responsibilities
of the sender and receiver. Reduces implementation costs
generally backward compatible.