How Do Health Level Seven Standards Facilitate the Sharing of Clinical Data? Research Paper Example

Introduction

Health Level Seven (HL7) standards establish a precedent for compliance and compatibility in many countries throughout the world. These standards demonstrate a commitment to high quality clinical care and delivery throughout organizations and support electronic clinical data sharing in a format which does not compromise the integrity of the data and the key stakeholders that are represented (Health Level Seven International). Seven separate levels of communication have been created to integrate open systems connection (OSI) to provide optimal application and clinical data sharing in an environment which is consistent with privacy and compliance regulations (Health Level Seven International).

Body

HL7 standards provide a framework to ensure that clinical data stored in electronic health records is safely protected under all established laws and regulations, such as HIPAA as governed in the United States. The organization has taken many important steps to establish systems and regulations which integrate and communicate effectively amongst different types of health care organizations, such as hospitals, clinics, insurance providers, and government institutions (SCO Summit). Under these conditions, HL7 standards are universally applied to clinical and electronic health records data to share and protect data under required laws to prevent unnecessary third parties from obtaining data for which they are not qualified (SCO Summit). This framework also supports the ongoing improvement of electronic health records systems so that clinical data is transmitted and available as regulations change and permit access to this information (SCO Summit).

Conclusion

Health Level Seven standards provide an important framework for health care organizations to improve the protection and integrity of clinical data using electronic health records in a manner which is consistent with regulatory and compliance requirements. These efforts demonstrate a global commitment to excellence in the protection of clinical data and health information in an optimal and effective manner across organizations.

Works Cited

About HL7. Health Level Seven International, 2013. Web. 8 February 2013.

Health Level Seven, International (HL7). SCO Summit. 2013. Web. 8 February 2013.