×

HL7's new AMS is live!   We are working with Fonteva to resolve log in issues. My Account

Section 1d: Version 2 (V2)
Section 2: Clinical and Administrative Domains
Section 3: Implementation Guides

HL7 Version 2.5.1 Implementation Guide: Orders and Observations; Ambulatory Lab Result (ELINCS), Release 1

DESCRIPTION

This HL7 Version 2.5.1 Ambulatory Care Laboratory Result (ELINCS) Implementation Guide provides guidance on how to apply the HL7 Version 2.5.1 standard for the electronic reporting of laboratory test results to electronic health record (EHR) systems found in ambulatory care practices. It is specific to the US Realm. Electronic messaging for other tasks and other contexts is outside the scope of the specification at this time, including messaging for ordering ambulatory lab tests, for reporting inpatient lab results, for reporting lab results outside of the US Realm, and for special-purpose reporting such as public health or biosurveillance.

ALTERNATIVE NAMES

HL7 Version 2.5.1 Implementation Guide: Orders and Observations; Ambulatory Lab Result (ELINCS), Release 1 may also go by the following names or acronyms:

"V 2.5.1 Implementation Guide: Orders & Observations; Ambulatory Care Lab Result (ELINCS), Release 1"

TARGETS

  • Labs and laboratory services
  • Ambulatory EHR vendors

BENEFITS

  • Consistent implementation across disparate systems and disparate organizations.
  • This specification provides a single applicable ambulatory care lab-reporting specification that can be adopted as a US standard.  This obviates the need for clinical laboratories and EHR systems vendors to define unique specifications for each instance of a laboratory-to-EHR interface.
  • Allows lab results to be integrated with the patients electronic health record (EHR) and reviewed as part of a comprehensive medical history

IMPLEMENTATIONS/CASE STUDIES

DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND

In the mid '90s, the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) identified electronic lab reporting was key to gathering public health data. However, while most, if not all, electronic lab reporting was based in Version 2.x HL7, most implementations were slightly different and many were based on text only.  In 2004, the Health and Human Service’s National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Dr. David Brailer, asked California HealthCare Foundation to  lead the development of the  EHR-Laboratory Interoperability and Connectivity Specification (ELINCS) implementation guide for laboratory results.

 

The Ambulatory HealthCare Lab Result Implementation Guide was developed through a collaborative effort of vendors, major clinical laboratories, and various other stakeholders, including HL7.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

HL7 Version 2.5.1 Implementation Guide: Orders and Observations; Ambulatory Lab Result (ELINCS), Release 1

(Download) (2.06 MB)

TOPIC

  • Laboratory

BALLOT TYPE

  • Informative

STATUS DATE

2008-07-21

RESPONSIBLE WORK GROUP

Orders and Observations

PRODUCT TYPE

  • ANSI-registered Technical Report

FAMILY

  • V2

CURRENT STATE

  • Stable

REALM

  • US Realm