Standardization of HL7 Clinical Laboratory System

Abstract

In 1995, the standard ISO/TC212 which applied to the Clinical Laboratory and External Laboratory System was established by the National Committee on Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). Later in 1996, with this as a catalyst for future standards development, the NCCLS set to work developing a Laboratory Automation Standard in order to increase the efficiency and interconnectivity of laboratory automation systems and to facilitate their engineering. The NCCLS also proceeded to work with other standards developers such as the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), International Electrical Engineers (IEE), and Hospital Level 7 (HL7). These committees worked on creating laboratory automation standards from the period extending from 1997 until the end of 1999. The following standards have been completed by the NCCLS: 1 AUTO1-P: Standard of Specimen container / Specimen Career design and production 1 AUTO2-P: Barcode method for Specimen container discrimination 1 AUTO3-P: Communication standard of electronic date exchange of automation system 1 AUTO4-P: Standard for status information; system applying condition, special quality, and information element, etc. 1 AUTO5-P: Guide to electronic mechanical interface These standards have been adopted by other organizations such as the Japanese Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Society (JCCLS) and the International Federation for Clinical Chemistry (IFCC). AUTO3-P will also use the standard HL7 version 2.4 as the current HL7 standard.