About HL7

Founded in 1987, Health Level Seven International (HL7) is a not-for-profit, ANSI-accredited standards developing organization dedicated to providing a comprehensive framework and related standards for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information that supports clinical practice and the management, delivery and evaluation of health services. HL7 is supported by more than 1,600 members from over 50 countries, including 500+ corporate members representing healthcare providers, government stakeholders, payers, pharmaceutical companies, vendors/suppliers, and consulting firms.

Learn how HL7 standards improve patient care around the globe.

New to HL7? Learn the ropes at the HL7 Orientation Station.

HL7 Vision

A world where every individual has secure, timely, and appropriate access to accurate health information, empowering them, their care teams, and communities to make informed decisions anytime, anywhere.

HL7 Mission

To create and promote the adoption of innovative interoperability standards that improve health and well-being while fostering a diverse and inclusive global community.

HL7 International 3-Year Plan

HL7 - What Does it Mean?

"Level Seven" refers to the seventh level of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) seven-layer communications model for Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) - the application level. The application level interfaces directly to and performs common application services for the application processes. Although other protocols have largely superseded it, the OSI model remains valuable as a place to begin the study of network architecture.

HL7's People and Organizations

See a list of the people and organizations involved with HL7 or download the HL7 Organizational Chart.