>> An Education In HL7?
When it comes to data interoperability, various standards help healthcare systems adopt better communication and data storage methods. One of these standards is Health Level Seven, often abbreviated as HL7. It is a breakthrough in medical record storage systems, healthcare data exchange, and much more. This blog will learn all about HL7 and why it's so important to healthcare systems today.
What is HL7?
HL7 is a set of international standards, formats, and definitions that provide a framework and platform for electronic health record (EHR) storage and data exchange between healthcare providers.
It was created by Health Level Seven International, a non-profit organization designed to provide comprehensive frameworks for data exchange in the medical industry. Today, HL7 is supported by over 1600 members in 50+ countries and over 500 corporations. These include hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, governmental organizations, medical vendors, etc.
Incorporating healthcare data makes it easy for healthcare providers to establish proper communication between themselves. It also makes healthcare data easier to store, modify, share and interpret. Overall, HL7 aids in management and communication in the healthcare sector, making healthcare efficient, manageable, and easy to evaluate.
Why Does The Healthcare System Need HL7?
In many healthcare professions, healthcare specialists need to access the medical history and records of the patient. General patient trends show that the average adult has more than three significant ailments seeking medical help. Different doctors often treat these issues, and people tend to switch medical providers when they move states or change addresses. Therefore, the patient's medical data can be scattered and hard to rely on for a proper diagnosis.
Through interoperability standards, electronic health records have become the new trend. A patient’s complete medical file is created and updated as they continue to benefit from medical services from different providers. HL7 helps medical providers access these electronic health records, especially specialists in outpatient clinics.
It also provides them a proper channel to contact and share information with other medical service providers. This helps make data storage and management efficiency, and it reduces the amount of time it takes to read through patient data to make a good diagnosis.
Main HL7 Standards
The primary HL7 standards are as follows:
HL7 Version 2
HL7 Version 2 is one of the most popular and updated medical messaging systems for patient care and clinical communication. It lets healthcare providers message each other to send or request messages containing healthcare data.
FHIR
Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR) is a web-based medical communication language that helps interoperable applications run faster. It also makes them more straightforward to write to promote innovation in healthcare interoperability.
CDA
The CDA is an ISO-approved standard that provides a framework for exchanging medical files and patient discharge slips. It makes files of different formats easier to share, read and interpret for healthcare professionals.
EHR-PHR
EHR-PHR System Functional Models help make it easy to develop EHR systems and their components. It helps promote the exchange and development of electronic and personal health records. The PHR models are still under development.
The Main Takeaway
Overall, we have ascertained that HL7 is essential for developing and promoting interoperability in the healthcare sector. It helps make healthcare efficient and transparent by providing channels for fast communication and effective data exchange. More and more healthcare providers are adopting HL7 standards, which signals that the future of healthcare is bright. Patients, payers, and providers will make for better healthcare attitudes and practices through all these benefits.
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