ISO/HL7 27931:2009

Data Exchange Standards — Health Level Seven Version 2.5 — An application protocol for electronic data exchange in healthcare environments

ISO 27931:2009 establishes an application protocol for the electronic exchange of data in healthcare environments.

Normes d'échange de données — Version 2.5 normalisée de messagerie HL7 — Un protocole d'application pour l'échange de données électroniques dans les environnements de soins

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 16-Jun-2009
• ICS: 35.240.80 - IT applications in health care technology
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 215 - Health informatics
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 215/WG 2 - Systems and Device Interoperability
• Current Stage: 9093 - International Standard confirmed
• Start Date: 20-Nov-2023
• Completion Date: 30-Oct-2025

Overview

ISO/HL7 27931:2009 specifies Health Level Seven (HL7) Version 2.5 as an application protocol for the electronic exchange of healthcare data. Published jointly by ISO and HL7 in 2009, this standard defines a messaging framework to support interoperability between clinical, administrative and ancillary healthcare systems. It is intended to enable reliable, structured data exchange across diverse health IT environments.

Key Topics

• Application protocol and messaging framework - defines how systems format and exchange messages to represent healthcare events and data.
• Message structure and encoding rules - establishes conventions for message composition, delimiters and interpretation to allow consistent parsing and processing.
• Data types and semantics - provides standardized data constructs and element definitions to reduce ambiguity in exchanged information.
• Control and acknowledgement mechanisms - specifies transactional behavior and acknowledgement messages to confirm receipt and processing.
• Conformance and implementation guidance - outlines how vendors and implementers should document profiles and conformance to ensure interoperable deployments.

(Information above reflects the standard’s scope as an application protocol for healthcare data exchange; consult the published document for detailed normative rules.)

Applications

ISO/HL7 27931:2009 is used to exchange a wide range of clinical and administrative information in healthcare environments, including:

• Patient demographics and admission/discharge data
• Orders and results for laboratory and diagnostic services
• Clinical observations and care documentation
• Scheduling, billing and other ancillary services

Because HL7 v2.5 focuses on practical interoperability, it is well-suited for point-to-point interfaces, hospital information systems, laboratory information systems, EHR/EPR integration, and health information exchanges (HIEs).

Who Uses This Standard

• Health IT vendors implementing messaging interfaces
• Hospital and clinic IT teams integrating disparate systems
• Laboratory and radiology information system developers
• System integrators and health information exchange architects
• Standards bodies and procurement specialists assessing interoperability

Related Standards

• Other HL7 versions and profiles (for newer or alternative messaging approaches)
• Transport and security standards used in conjunction with HL7 messaging (e.g., secure TCP/IP, MLLP, web services)
• National implementation guides and conformance profiles that adapt HL7 v2.5 for local requirements

ISO/HL7 27931:2009 (HL7 v2.5) remains a practical, widely implemented standard for healthcare data exchange. For implementation details, message tables, and normative rules, refer to the official ISO/HL7 27931:2009 publication.

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/HL7
STANDARD 27931
First edition
2009-07-01
Corrected version
2012-10-15
Data Exchange Standards — Health Level
Seven Version 2.5 — An application
protocol for electronic data exchange in
healthcare environments
Normes d'échange de données — Version 2.5 normalisée de
messagerie HL7 — Un protocole d'application pour l'échange de
données électroniques dans les environnements de soins

Reference number
©
ISO/HL7 2009
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INTERNATIONAL ISO/HL7
STANDARD 27931
First edition
2009-07-01
Data Exchange Standards — Health Level
Seven Version 2.5 — An application
protocol for electronic data exchange in
healthcare environments
Normes d'échange de données — Version 2.5 normalisée de
messagerie HL7 — Un protocole d'application pour l'échange de
données électroniques dans les environnements de soins

Reference number
©
ISO/HL7 2009
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