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HL7 is just text, if you're not sending it over SSL then it's arguably easier to decipher than a simple webpage when looking through the packets! The current t

HL7 is just text, if you're not sending it over SSL then it's arguably easier to decipher than a simple webpage when looking through the packets! The current thing is called FHIR though and instead of sending text HL7v2 messages directly to a port over SSL now we can use a web service, HTTPS, and exchange JSON messages.

raxxorrax 7y ago
Oh really? I always thought it would mainly be an image container like Dicom, which is in practice abused to exchange text just as well. Haven't had the pleasure to work with HL7, I was just tormented by Dicom and have always been told that HL7 is just the American version of it.
- criley2 7y ago
  All of my legacy interfaces for an EHR vendor are HL7v2 based. It's pretty simple to work with but our lack of external libraries leaves me tinkering with opening ports and reading data manually too much. The beginning of a HL7 (2.4) message with the header and patient ID node might look like this (this example looks like an ORU^R01 inbound lab result) MSH|^~\&|GHH LAB|ELAB-3|GHH OE|BLDG4|200202150930||ORU^R01|CNTRL-3456|P|2.4 PID|||555-44-4444||EVERYWOMAN^EVE^E^^^^L|JONES|19620320|F|||153 FERNWOOD DR.^^STATESVILLE^OH^35292||(206)3345232|(206)752-121||||AC555444444||67-A4335^OH^20030520 Just a list of offsets using |^~\& seperators sent directly over a port. The JSON/FHIR versions are nicer even if they are more verbose.
  - lostlogin 7y ago
    HL7 is so awful. My introduction was is seared into my memory as I hadn’t realised the various line break methods allowed/used. I have dealt with a vendor who’s existence began is still heavily propped up by their HL7 broker service. It seems rather lucrative.
    - cabaalis 7y ago
      HL7 is the manifestation of all that is unholy and wrong.
- TuringNYC 7y ago
  DICOM is commonly used for medical imaging binary data (ultrasounds, xrays, MRIs, CTs). However, some metadata is often put into the DICOMs also.

raxxorrax 7y ago

Oh really? I always thought it would mainly be an image container like Dicom, which is in practice abused to exchange text just as well. Haven't had the pleasure to work with HL7, I was just tormented by Dicom and have always been told that HL7 is just the American version of it.

criley2 7y ago
All of my legacy interfaces for an EHR vendor are HL7v2 based. It's pretty simple to work with but our lack of external libraries leaves me tinkering with opening ports and reading data manually too much. The beginning of a HL7 (2.4) message with the header and patient ID node might look like this (this example looks like an ORU^R01 inbound lab result) MSH|^~\&|GHH LAB|ELAB-3|GHH OE|BLDG4|200202150930||ORU^R01|CNTRL-3456|P|2.4 PID|||555-44-4444||EVERYWOMAN^EVE^E^^^^L|JONES|19620320|F|||153 FERNWOOD DR.^^STATESVILLE^OH^35292||(206)3345232|(206)752-121||||AC555444444||67-A4335^OH^20030520 Just a list of offsets using |^~\& seperators sent directly over a port. The JSON/FHIR versions are nicer even if they are more verbose.
- lostlogin 7y ago
  HL7 is so awful. My introduction was is seared into my memory as I hadn’t realised the various line break methods allowed/used. I have dealt with a vendor who’s existence began is still heavily propped up by their HL7 broker service. It seems rather lucrative.
  - cabaalis 7y ago
    HL7 is the manifestation of all that is unholy and wrong.
TuringNYC 7y ago
DICOM is commonly used for medical imaging binary data (ultrasounds, xrays, MRIs, CTs). However, some metadata is often put into the DICOMs also.