HL-7 is a data communications protocol guiding the transmission of what type of information?

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HL-7 standards govern how healthcare information is formatted and exchanged between systems to enable interoperability. The emphasis is on health-related data—things like patient demographics, clinical orders, lab results, diagnoses, and care summaries that flow between electronic health records, laboratories, and other healthcare applications. The goal is for different systems to understand and use the data in clinical workflows, not to handle domains outside the health context. While some administrative or scheduling elements can be part of healthcare processes, HL-7’s primary purpose is the transmission of health information across providers and devices using common formats and messaging rules. Modern HL-7 implementations, such as FHIR, continue this focus by delivering health data through accessible APIs while staying centered on health information.