HL7 Health Level Seven
BACKGROUND The term "Level 7" refers to the highest level of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model of the International Standards Organization (ISO). Also, HL7 does not specify a set of ISO approved specifications to occupy layers 1 to 6 under HL7's abstract message specifications. "Health Level Seven standard that enables disparate healthcare applications to exchange keys sets of clinical and administrative data." NEED FOR A STANDARD It is not uncommon today for the average hospital to have installed computer systems for admission, discharge, and transfer; clinical laboratories; radiology; billing and accounts receivable, to cite a few. Often these applications have been developed by different vendors or in-house groups, with each product having highly specific information formats. As hospitals need to share critical data among the systems has emerged. GOALS OF THE STANDARD Implemented in the widest variety of technical environments.