How to use this specification

1. Search

Press / on any page to search. Search accepts a segment code, a field such as PID-5, a data type, a message type or a table number.

2. Follow the course

The HL7 v2 Fundamentals course teaches HL7 v2 by walking through this specification. You can learn the standard and how to use this site at the same time. The course is free, and you can take it at your own pace.

We also have a page on how to read a HL7 v2 message line by line. You can find it here: how to read an HL7 v2 message.

3. The important pages

Chapters

If you wish to follow the course as outlined by the official HL7 Product Suite, you can use the chapter page to navigate through the specification.

Each chapter covers a specific area of hospital work, such as patient administration, order entry, or observation reporting. The chapter page provides an overview of what each chapter covers, along with the trigger events, segments, and tables defined within it.

Segments

The segments page tells you what a segment is with an example. It consists of a list of the common segments, and a list of all segments with a filter.

Message types

The message types page tells you what a message type is with an example. It consists of a list of the common message types, and a list of all message types with a filter.

4. HL7 Studio

HL7 Studio is an online editor for HL7 v2 messages.

If you already know the basics of HL7 v2, you can use HL7 Studio to create and edit messages. You can paste a message and it parses as you type. Some segment pages with a worked message also have a link that opens that message in HL7 Studio.