HL7 Intellectual Property to be Offered Free of Charge
Questions and Answers About the Health Level 7® International (HL7®) Decision to Make its Global Standards and Select IP Available at No Cost
Q: Why has HL7 decided to make its standards and other HL7 IP available free-of-charge?
A: This policy is consistent with HL7's vision of making its collaborative and consensus-driven standards the most widely used in healthcare, and with the HL7 mission of achieving interoperability in ways that put the needs of stakeholders first. Our primary aim is to maximize benefits to our members, the healthcare community, and all those who have contributed to make HL7 standards so successful. This move satisfies our goals in a number of ways, including:
- Making our standards and selected IP freely available is an important step toward wider global adoption of our standards. Charging for standards is a barrier to widespread adoption by physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers who are working to increase data sharing to improve care and reduce costs.
- There is increasing government demand for standards that do not require a licensing fee. This is particularly true of the U.S. Health Information Technology Standards Committee, which does not want to adopt standards when the cost could be a barrier to implementation.
- HL7 standards are created by volunteers, most of whom are paid by employers who use the standards. This decision should encourage continued participation of and provide additional value to those volunteers and the organizations that support them.
- HL7 standards are incorporated into and referenced in other standards and implementation profiles. This step will encourage and simplify the use and alignment of HL7 with the work of other standards development organizations and profile developers.
Q: When will the policy go into effect?
A: Implementation of this important decision requires careful planning to ensure HL7 continues to maximize its benefits to HL7 members and the healthcare community. The planning process will include consultation with HL7 members and stakeholders, development of new models for membership, and specification of a framework that will ensure that HL7 can continue to develop and maintain high quality and relevant standards. This process is expected to take several months and needs to be completed before the policy comes into effect during the first quarter of 2013.
Q: Will users be expected to pay for IP until this policy goes into effect?
A: Currently, HL7 members pay for membership, which includes access to and the right to use our standards, along with other benefits. Once we complete our review and analysis, we expect to transition directly from the current model of membership that includes the right to use our standards to a model in which use of our standards and select IP is independent of HL7 membership. Until then, use of HL7 standards will continue to be a member benefit.
Q: Will HL7 standards be in the public domain?
A: No. Our standards and selected IP will be available free-of-charge under a licensing agreement under which HL7 will retain its copyright.
Q: In addition to HL7 standards, what is the "selected IP" that will be made available free of charge?
A: This has not yet been finalized. We will evaluate the needs of our membership and the healthcare community and announce this information once a decision has been made.
Q: What is the expected impact of licensing HL7's IP free of charge in terms of membership?
A: We anticipate that the decision to remove cost barriers will increase membership within HL7. In the U.S., for example, HL7 standards are integral to Meaningful Use. The need for industry input on the HL7 standards selected for Meaningful Use Stage 2 is one significant factor that will help drive increases in both membership and HL7 member participation, which is crucial to making our standards easier to use.
Q: Once the standards are available at no cost, why would your current members renew their membership?
A: There are many important benefits to HL7 membership beyond access to and the right to use our standards. These include: opportunities to collaborate with others in the field of HIT and standards development; input into and voting privileges on HL7 standards; access to implementation tools, HL7 meetings and other resources; and the right to run for and participate in elections of HL7 leadership positions.
We will also be reaching out to our members to assess how we can enhance the value of membership in the future. HL7 is the leader in the development of healthcare data interoperability standards and will remain responsive to the evolving needs of HIT. We are confident that our members are committed to ensuring the viability of HL7 going forward, maintaining HL7 standards and playing key roles in the important work of HL7 and its ongoing contribution to the quality and effectiveness of healthcare.
Q: How might this decision impact the business model of HL7 affiliates?
A: Making HL7 standards and other selected IP freely available is expected to increase rather than decrease the role and influence of both HL7 and its affiliates. As we move forward with this policy, HL7 International and its affiliates will work together to maximize the benefits they are able to offer to their respective membership and wider communities. The rights of affiliates in relation to IP that they jointly own will be respected.
Q: How will HL7 retain its membership and its position as the leader in HIT interoperability if it makes its IP freely available?
A: The decision to make our IP freely available has met with overwhelming support from our members and other stakeholders. They understand the important role that HL7 plays in developing standards and that, although our IP will be free, the development of IP is not free. We expect not only to retain our current members, who are committed to playing a continuing role in the development of high quality standards, but also to attract new members who understand the importance of supporting this process.
Stakeholder reactions:
"HIMSS is pleased to learn that HL7 will be making their standards available free-of-charge. This HL7 pledge will go far to advance our shared objective for stakeholders to widely adopt and implement standards-based interoperable health IT systems to achieve seamless, effective and secure health information exchange practices worldwide."
- H. Stephen Lieber, CAE, HIMSS President and CEO
"The InternationalHealthTerminologyStandardsDevelopmentOrganisation (IHTSDO), owner of SNOMED CT, the global reference terminology and long time harmonization partner of HL7, welcomes this move asa further step tobringinginternationalSemantic Interoperability in Healthcare closer to reality. This issomething both organizations strive forin order to supportimprovedqualityin thedelivery of Healthcare."
- Jan-Eric Slot MB, MSc, MBA,CEO of IHTSDO