A Practical Guide to HL7

Interface Development
BUILDING CUSTOM INTEGRATIONS
FOR HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS
 Introduction
OV E RV I E W: H L 7 AND I TS C H A L L E N G E S
Interoperability between healthcare systems is critical in the healthcare industry, and the HL7
messaging standard has become the de facto standard for exchanging clinical and
administrative data between different healthcare applications.

Building custom integrations that support HL7 messaging not only requires fundamental
knowledge of the standard, but more importantly understanding of the implementation of HL7
in practice. Despite everyone’s best efforts and intentions, in reality HL7 is almost always
improperly formatted – and thus, requires some type of middleware to handle the
inconsistencies.

This guide will provide a practical approach to developing custom HL7 interfaces,
including how to overcome common challenges associated with working with the HL7
standard, with an emphasis on the importance of using a development-based
integration engine.

Understanding the HL7 Messaging Standard

HL7 (Health Level Seven) is a messaging standard for exchanging data between different
healthcare applications. There are three main versions of HL7: version 2, version 3, and Fast
Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR). Version 2 is the most widely adopted version, and
it utilizes a message structure that includes segments, fields (also known as composites), and
sub-fields. Delimiter characters are used to separate each of these, for example: Composites
are separated by a pipe (|) and sub-composites are separated by a caret (^).

To develop custom integrations that support HL7 messaging, developers need a good
understanding of the HL7 standard including the vast assortment of different fields where
specific patient information is intended to be stored.

Common Challenges when Working with the

HL7 Standard
There are several challenges that integration engineers face when working with the HL7
standard. One of the most significant is the complexity of the message structure itself which
isn’t straightforward to interpret. Another major challenge is the lack of consistency in the
implementation of HL7 across different healthcare organizations, which can lead to
interoperability issues – which in turn makes it even harder to develop interfaces that can
correctly interpret and exchange the data.

A Practical Guide to HL7 Interface Development: Building Custom Integrations for Healthcare Systems
PR OP E R I NT E GR AT I O N: B U I L DI NG I NT E RFACE S The Benefits of an HL7 Integration Engine
Using an integration engine can alleviate these challenges that come with working with the
HL7 standard, by acting as an interpreter between various disparate systems. However, not
all integration engines are the same, and there are factors you should consider when
selecting one.

When building these custom interfaces, it is essential to use a development-based integration

engine, as opposed to a drag-and-drop solution. A development-based engine allows for
custom coding of interfaces, enabling developers to build highly optimized and specialized
interfaces. This is crucial to be able to adapt to messaging inconsistencies, as well as
proprietary system connections, which is where standardized drag-and-drop or low/no-code
solutions fail. Being able to map specific data fields in HL7 messages to fields in the target
system will ensure that current (and future) systems you need to interface with always work.

Developing Custom HL7 Integrations

The Iguana Integration Engine natively supports HL7 messaging, and provides a set of tools
that can be used to build custom interfaces using an integrated development environment.

While it allows for customized HL7 interface development, every integration still begins with
proper planning which involves several steps:

1. Understanding the interface requirements:

Start by mapping out your HL7 workflow. What endpoints that you are looking to
connect? Then, identify the data that needs to be sent — what type of HL7 messages
are you working with?

Consider the frequency of data exchange and, lastly - what is the data format that the
target system is expecting to receive? Which particular HL7 fields and segments need
to make it to your destination?

If this is your first HL7 interface, Iguana allows you to easily get started with pre-built
components for your source and destination. For example, you can configure an LLP
stream in a matter of minutes.

A Practical Guide to HL7 Interface Development: Building Custom Integrations for Healthcare Systems
2. Designing the integration:
Develop a normalized HL7 message structure that defines how data will be exchanged
between the source and target systems. Does your data need to be filtered or
transformed? Note the specific fields that may need to be manipulated to match the
target destination’s expected message schema. This is an important step in
preparation for coding your interface.

3. Coding the interfaces:

With your workflow requirements well defined, you can now write the custom code
that maps data fields in HL7 messages to fields in the target system. In Iguana, you can
use the development environment to perform basic functions on your HL7 data.
Simple scripting syntax allows you to parse, filter, transform and map your messages
to fit the exact requirements of your custom workflow. The beauty of hand coding
interfaces lies in creating reusable and modular configurations — allowing the volume
and variety of interfaces to easily scale with your business as your HL7 integration
requirements grow and evolve.

4. Testing the integration:

Thoroughly test the integration to make sure the data is output as expected and
exchanged correctly.

Building and testing your interface is often times an interative process. In Iguana, you
can send a variety of sample data between the source and target system while you
code your interface, so you can see the output of your interface right away.

A Practical Guide to HL7 Interface Development: Building Custom Integrations for Healthcare Systems
 Conclusion
C H OOS I N G T H E R I GH T I N T E G RAT I O N E NG I NE
In conclusion, building custom interfaces that support HL7 messaging is a challenging task that
requires in-depth knowledge of the HL7 standard and the use of a powerful integration engine.
The Iguana Integration Engine is specifically designed to empower users to develop
custom-coded interfaces that work seamlessly with different flavours and formats of HL7,
ensuring compatibility with any healthcare system.

While creating custom developed interfaces can sound daunting at first, it truly is the best way
to guarantee interoperability — with long term benefits that increase as you scale. Rest assured
that Iguana has plenty of built-in features that make the process easy, for both novice and
experienced developers alike.

What’s Next?
Congratulations! You are one step closer to developing customized HL7 interfaces.

Let us show you how to get started with Iguana. Reach out with your specific integration
requirements, and get a customized demo of Iguana tailored to your needs:

Request a Free Demo

https://www.interfaceware.com/contact

(4.8) Source: Capterra

"The IDE is second to none for rapid HL7 development. The ability to
immediately see the result of code on data in the right panel is so good I don't
understand why other platforms don't employ it or similar."

Stewart A., Integration Workstream Lead in U.K.

A Practical Guide to HL7 Interface Development: Building Custom Integrations for Healthcare Systems