Standard for the Use of HL7 Version 2 in the UK (HL72UK)

This standard specifies a UK profile for HL7 version 2 to which UK implementations of the standard shall conform. The normative content of the document is supported by Implementation Guidance and Examples that provide practical help in implementing the standard.

The standard has been motivated by the need to address the particular needs of UK-based healthcare systems that are not specifically addressed by the HL7 Version 2 standard and the need to implement certain HL7 features in a standard way in the UK.

The latest version of the standard (vA.2) is based on HL7 2.4 but pre-adopts certain relevant features from HL7 2.5. Additionally the standard specifies some standard UK extensions (in the form of Z segments) that support UK requirements that are beyond the scope of the HL7 version 2 standard. The UK document is written as an extension to the HL7 version 2 standard (i.e. the full HL7 2.4 text is not reproduced) and must therefore be read in conjunction with the HL7 2.4 documentation.

Version A.2 of the standard covers the following HL7 Version 2 chapters:

• Chapter 1 - Introduction
• Chapter 2 - Control
• Chapter 3 - Patient Administration
• Chapter 4 - Order Entry
• Chapter 5 - Query
• Chapter 7 - Observation Reporting
• Chapter 8 - Master Files
• Chapter 10 - Scheduling

The NHS Information Standards Board (ISB) has approved HL72UK vA.2 as a Draft Standard. The 'Draft' status has been specifically stated as meaning that, while ISB does not wish to mandate the use of HL7 v2.x in the NHS, where v2.x interfaces are used then HL72UK vA.2 is the standard for implementing the appropriate messages.

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