HL7 Standards - Section 4: Rules and References

Technical specifications, programming structures and guidelines for software and standards development.

Click a Standard to link to more detail.

Name Description Type
Arden Syntax V2.7

The HL7 International Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Modules (MLMs) is an ANSI-approved American National Standard language for encoding medical knowledge and representing and sharing that knowledge among personnel, information syste...

Normative
Arden Syntax v2.8 (Health Level Seven Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, Version 2.8)

The HL7 International Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems is an ANSI-approved American National Standard language for encoding procedural medical knowledge and representing and sharing that knowledge among personnel, information syste...

Normative
Arden Syntax v2.9 (Health Level Seven Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, Version 2.9)

The Arden Syntax is a formalism for representing procedural clinical knowledge in order to facilitate the sharing of computerized health knowledge bases among personnel, information systems and institutions. Knowledge bases...

Normative
HL7 Business Architecture Model (BAM), Release 1

The purpose of the HL7 Business Architecture Model document (BAM) and associated diagrams is to collectively describe a 'goal state' business architecture model (BAM) for HL7 with an init...

Informative
HL7 CDA® R2 Implementation Guide: Patient-Friendly Language for Consumer User Interfaces, Release 1

The Patient Friendly Language for Consumer User Interfaces IG is sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and is a result of a focused effort to provide a plain language healthcare vocabulary for patient comprehension. This ...

Informative
HL7 Consumer Mobile Health Application Functional Framework (cMHAFF), Release 1

The Consumer Mobile Health Application Functional Framework is an HL7 Standard for Trial Use (STU). The primary goals of the Consumer Mobile Health Functional Framework ( cMHAFF ) are to provide a standard against which a mobile app&r...

STU
HL7 Context Management Specification (CCOW), Version 1.6

This specification has been retired, and is being replaced by HL7 FHIRCast

 

Aimed at facilitating the integration of applications at the point of use, CCOW Context Management Specification is a sta...

Normative
HL7 Cross Paradigm Specification: Allergy and Intolerance Substance Value Set(s) Definition, Release 1

This document describes a value set for use in identifying substances of concern for patients with allergies and intolerances. The list was generated by surveying existing records from large syst...

Informative
HL7 Cross Paradigm Specification: Health Services Reference Architecture (HL7-HSRA), Edition 1

The Health Services Reference Architecture (HSRA) aims to support the design of medium/large scale eHealth architectures based on HL7 services and standards. The HSRA supports the architectural desi...

STU
HL7 Cross-Paradigm Specification: Clinical Quality Language (CQL), Release 1

Clinical Quality Language (CQL) is a high-level, domain-specific language focused on clinical quality improvement and targeted at measure and decision support artifact authors and implementers.

...

Normative
HL7 Cross-Paradigm Specification: FHIRPath, Release 1

FHIRPath is a path based navigation and extraction language, somewhat like XPath. Operations are expressed in terms of the logical content of hierarchical data models, and support traversal, selection and filtering of data. Its desig...

Normative
HL7 Cross-Paradigm Specification: Representing Negatives, Release 1

This document surveys requirements and extant patterns for representing pertinent negatives and other negative semantics, and it analyzes the relative strengths and challenges for these patterns in different use cases. This analy...

Informative
HL7 Domain Analysis Model: Clinical Sequencing, Release 1

This document develops a domain analysis model for various use cases in clinical genomics with an emphasis on clinical sequencing. The model describes and outlines a multitude of use cases and scenarios in which clinical sequencing testing is cu...

Informative
HL7 Healthcare Privacy and Security Classification System (HCS), Release 1

International standard document describing the use of a Healthcare Privacy and Security Classification System (HCS) suitable for automated labeling and segmentation of protected health care info...

Normative
HL7 Implementation Guide: LOINC Document Ontology, Release 1

The purpose for this implementation guide is to define how the LOINC Document Ontology can be implemented within systems as a foundation for powerful archiving, data mining, and information exch...

DSTU
HL7 Informative Document: C-CDA Rubric Criteria, Release 1 - US Realm

This informative implementation guide contains rubric criteria created through an ongoing project in the HL7 Structured Documents Work Group (SDWG), originating in 2016. Throughout 2018 a group of HL7 members created a new set of rubri...

Informative
HL7 Messaging Standard Version 2.9

HL7’s Version 2.x (V2) 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 excha...

Normative
HL7 Policy for Introducing New Processes, Release 1

This document defines the approval and adoption methodology for non-standards process artifacts; it was developed by Project Services but commissioned by the Technical Steering Committee (TSC).  HL7 has a well-defined metho...

Informative
HL7 Service-Aware Interoperability Framework (SAIF): Canonical Definition Specification, Release 2

The Service-Aware Interoperability Framework (SAIF) provides consistency between all artifacts, enables a standardized approach to Enterprise Architecture development and implementation, and a way ...

Informative, Normative
HL7 Specification: Characteristics of a Value Set Definition, Release 1

This document describes the data elements that formally define and characterize (describe) how to create an HL7 conformant value set. These include: the metadata used to identify and define a va...

Normative
HL7 Specification: Clinical Quality Common Metadata Conceptual Model, Release 1

The purpose of this specification is to identify a common model that shall be used to derive and implement metadata information in D-MIMs and Logical Models in a consistent manner for any HL7 specification impacting initi...

Informative
HL7 V2 Implementation Guide Quality Criteria, Release 1

This publication defines clear quality criteria for HL7 Version 2 implementation guides. These criteria are applied by the implementation guide authors and the appropriate HL7 committees as HL7 v2 implementation guides move through the stand...

Informative
HL7 Version 2 Conformance Methodology Release 1

HL7 Version 2 Conformance Methodology explains the procedures and processes for constraining HL7 v2 message specifications, encompassing both message profiles and implementation guides that contain message profi...

Normative
HL7 Version 2 Implementation Guide: Laboratory Value Set Companion Guide, Release 2 - US Realm

HL7 has developed multiple Implementation Guides (IGs) for the laboratory domain, supporting US Realm requirements.  These IGs cover a broad spectrum of interoperability; in order to harmonize vocabulary requirements across the IGs, HL7 O...

DSTU, STU
HL7 Version 2.7.1 Messaging Schemas

The HL7 Version 2.7.1 XML Message Definition schema representations are provided for convenience, as the XML schema is a compact and specific way to describe the XML representation. However the schema is not in itself a normative part ...

HL7 Version 2.8 Messaging Schemas

The HL7 Version 2.8 v2.xml Message Definition schema representations are provided for convenience, as the XML schema is a compact and specific way to describe the XML representation. However the schema is not in itself a normative part ...

HL7 Version 2.8.1 Messaging Schemas

The HL7 Version 2.8.1 v2.xml Message Definition schema representations are provided for convenience, as the XML schema is a compact and specific way to describe the XML representation. However the schema is not in itself a normative part ...

HL7 Version 2.8.2 Messaging Schemas

The HL7 Version 2.8.2 v2.xml Message Definition schema representations are provided for convenience, as the XML schema is a compact and specific way to describe the XML representation. However the schema is not in itself a normative part ...

HL7 Version 2.9.1 Messaging Standard - An Application Protocol for Electronic Data Exchange in Healthcare Environments

HL7’s Version 2.x (V2) 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 excha...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Methodology: Service Oriented Architecture; Service Definition, Release 1

This document describes a methodology for defining services within the healthcare domain, in particular, for areas covered by Health Level Seven (HL7) domain content; an effort known as Service Oriented Architecture for Health Level Seven...

Informative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Security and Privacy Ontology, Release 1

The HL7 Security and Privacy Ontology serves to name, define, formally describe, and interrelate key security and privacy concepts within the scope of Healthcare Information Technology, including security policies, privacy polic...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Abstract Transport Specification, Release 1

The Abstract Transport Specification provides models and mechanism for plug and play interoperability. Within that goal, the HL7 standard defines static and dynamic models for the information exchange that refer to the application layer...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Common Message Element Types

CMETs (Common Model Element Types) are a work product produced by a particular work group for expressing a common, useful and reusable concept. They are generally "consumed", or used by both the producing and other work group...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Common Terminology Services (CTS), Release 1

The HL7 International Common Terminology Services (HL7 CTS) defines an Application Programming Interface (API) that can be used by HL7 Version 3 software when accessing terminological content. It is intended to specify only ...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Core Principles and Properties of V3 Models, Release 2

As The HL7 Version 3 Methodology matured, the responsible work groups realized that there was a "missing" specification. The "missing" specification should specify what are the essential features of the models on which...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Data Types - Abstract Specification, Release 2

This document provides the semantic definitions for the data types used in the creation of HL7 V3 specifications. These "abstract" semantic definitions are also able to be used as constraints in the creation of imple...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: GELLO, A Common Expression Language, Release 2

GELLO, part of the HL7 Version 3 Normative Edition, is a standard query and expression language that provides a suitable framework for manipulation of clinical data for decision support in healthcare. The GELLO language can be used to build...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Healthcare (Security and Privacy) Access Control Catalog, Release 3

The Healthcare (Security and Privacy) Access Control Catalog is a new standard extending the current normative HL7 Role-based Access Control (RBAC) Permission Catalog standard.

The upda...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Identification Service (IS), Release 1

The Identification Service (IS) also known as the Identification and Cross-Reference Service (IXS) Service Functional Model define the functional requirements which provides a set of capabilities to manage and retrieve identifying infor...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Implementation Technology Specification R2 - ISO Harmonized Datatypes, R1

This product provides a set of global representations for data used in the presentation and communication of healthcare information. This standardized set has been approved by the International Standards Organization’s (ISO) Medic...

Normative, Normative (R1)
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Infrastructure Management - R1

The Infrastructure Management section of the HL7 Version 3 Normative Edition focuses on the development and management of specifications that support the routing of messages to their specified dest...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Infrastructure Management; Control Act, Query and Transmission, Release 1.1

HL7 V3 Messaging is predicated on a common set of "wrappers" that provide for transmission control, query control and control act specifications. These were originally approved by HL7 and ANSI in October 2004. Following is the origi...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Model Interchange Format, Release 1

The HL7 Version 3 Specification: Model Interchange Format (MIF), Release 1 defines the content of the artifacts used by HL7, HL7 affiliates and implementers in the creation and implementation of HL7 v3 specifications, including messa...

Informative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Order Set Publication, Release 1

Order sets can organize and structure complex health care plans into useful units of work for clinicians. An order within an order set can request any clinical activity including referrals (requests for encounters), acts, suppl...

DSTU
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Privacy, Access and Security Services (PASS); Access Control, Release 1

The purpose of this document is to describe the conceptual-level viewpoints associated with the business requirements that relate to the content, structure, and functional behavior of information important to the Access Control area of th...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Privacy, Access and Security Services; Security Labeling Service, Release 1 (SLS)

Specify interoperable Security Labeling functional capabilities that are exposed through well-defined, technology agnostic service interfaces. Functional capabilities will likely include the following component services and infra...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Refinement, Constraint, and Localization (RCL) to V3 Messages, R2

This HL7 Version 3 (V3) standard describes the processes whereby HL7 V3 artifact specifications may be refined, constrained and extended to support implementation designs, conformance profiles, and realm-specific stand...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Representation of the Health Quality Measure Format (eMeasure) Release 1

The Health Quality Measures Format (HQMF) is a standard for representing a health quality measure as an electronic document. A quality measure is a quantitative tool that provides an indication of an individual or organ...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Retrieve, Locate, and Update Service (RLUS) Release 1

The Retrieve, Locate, and Update Service (RLUS) Service Functional Model specify the appropriate capabilities that must be realized by a service interface to locate, retrieve, and update resources (e.g. documents, messages) among and w...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Transmission Infrastructure, Release 2

The Health Level Seven (HL7) Standard applies to the electronic exchange of data in all healthcare environments. Within the context of healthcare messaging, the HL7 standard is primarily concerned with the data content of excha...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Transport Specification – ebXML Using ebMS 2.0, Release 1

The purpose of the ebXML message wrapper is to provide a secure, flexible transport for exchanging HL7 messages and other content, and potentially other message formats, between message handling interfaces or ebXML Message Service Handl...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: Transport Specifications - MLLP

The purpose of the MLLP Protocol (Minimum Lower Layer Protocol) is to provide both a minimalistic Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)-session layer framing protocol as well as a minimalistic reliable transport protocol. If secur...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: XML Implementation Technology Specification - V3 Structures for Wire Format Compatible Release 1 Data Types, Release 1

The ITS Structures for Wire Format Compatible Release 1 Data Types specification, referred to as R2b, intends to be mostly wire-backwards-compatible to existing ITS Structures R1.1 but conformant (directly or indir...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: XML Implementation Technology Specification - V3 Structures, Release 2

The objective of this document is to present an Implementable Technology Specification (ITS) for the encoding rules for HL7 Version 3 messages based on the Extensible Markup Language XML.

...

Normative
HL7 Version 3 Standard: XML Implementation Technology Specification - Wire Format Compatible Release 1 Data Types, Release 1

This is the Wire Format Compatible Release 1 Data Types (XML ITS R2B) for datatypes. It implements a subset of the Abstract Data Types R2 with a wire format that is mostly backwards compatible with ITS R1. Note, however, that while the w...

Normative
HL7 Version 3: Reference Information Model (RIM)

The HL7 Reference Information Model (RIM) is a critical component of the HL7 V3 family of standards. It is the root of all information models and structures developed as part of the V3 development process.

...

Normative
XML Encoding Rules for Version 2 Messages, Release 2 (HL7 Version 2: XML Encoding Syntax, Release 2)

The objective of this document is to present alternate encoding rules for HL7 Version 2.3.1 to 2.7 messages (and a mechanism for determining alternate encoding rules for subsequent HL7 2.x versions) based on the Extensible Markup Language XML t...

Normative
XML Encoding Rules  (HL7 Version 2: XML Encoding Syntax, Release 1)

This document describes how to use  XML for Version 2.x (V2) messages. Even with the release of HL7 Version 3 (V3), HL7 V2.xml is needed to support the large base of existing systems that employ V2. This document does not repla...

Normative