TSC Product List V2

Product Brief - V2: Health Level Seven Standard Version 2 - An application Protocol for Electronic Data Exchange in Healthcare Environments

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Type

Normative, ANSI Standard

Releases

• ANSI/HL7 V2.2-1996
• ANSI/HL7 V2.3-1997
• ANSI/HL7 V2.3.1-1999
• ANSI/HL7 V2.4-2000
• ANSI/HL7 V2.5-2003
• ANSI/HL7 2.5.1-2007
• ANSI/HL7 2.6-2007
• In-process: HL7 V2.7 see Project # 204

Summary

The Version 2 Messaging Standard is one of the most widely implemented standards for healthcare information in the world. First released in October 1987 as An Application Protocol for Electronic Data Exchange in Healthcare Environments, Version 2 is a messaging standard that 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. Version 2.6, representing the latest update to the Version 2 Standard, was published in January 2008. Version 2.7 is in the final stages of balloting and is expected to be released later this year.

Description

HL7’s Version 2.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. There have been seven releases of the Version 2.x Standard to date. The HL7 Standard covers messages that exchange information in the general areas of:

• Patient Demographics
• Patient Charges and Accounting
• Patient Insurance and Guarantor
• Clinical Observations
• Encounters including Registration, Admission, Discharge and Transfer
• Orders for Clinical Service (Tests, Procedures, Pharmacy, Dietary and Supplies)
• Observation Reporting including Test Results
• The synchronization of Master Files between systems
• Medical Records Document Management
• Scheduling of Patient Appointments and Resources
• Patient Referrals—Specifically messages for primary care referral
• Patient Care and problem-oriented records.

Version 2.6 represents a major revision to Versions 2.5 and 2.5.1, refining and updating existing messages and adding new messages and domains all based upon proposals submitted and accepted by the HL7 membership. Modifications from Version 2.5.1 include:

• The addition of a new segment, UAC – User Authentication Credential, to ALL messages
• The replacement of the TS – Timestamp data type with the DTM – Date/Time data type

The replacement of the CE – Coded Element data type with either the CNE – Coded with No Exceptions data type or the CWE – Coded with Exceptions data type

• The deprecation of the CNN, NDL, LA1 and LA2 data types
  • The inclusion of “external” tables referencing a set of coded values defined and published by another standards organization assigned an HL7 number but without designation as an HL7 table (as was previously the practice)
• The revision of examples in all chapters to support HIPAA compliance
• The inclusion of a new chapter supporting electronic messaging transactions of claims and reimbursement data (which is produced for implementations of HL7 outside of the United States; in the United States, HIPAA law mandates an already in-use set of implementation guides of X12 messages for these purposes)
• The inclusion of a new chapter supporting electronic messaging transactions of supply chain management data within healthcare facilities

Meanwhile, Version 2.7 is currently being balloted at the normative level. Due to its widespread use, Version 2 will, no doubt, continue to play an integral part in healthcare messaging, even with the HL7 Version 3 Normative Edition. HL7 is committed to supporting and extending Version 2 in parallel with Version 3, providing continuity for current installations.