Sun Microsystems Sun Adapter IP HL 7 - Manual (Page 10)

The Message Library handles all of the lower-layer protocol. The Message Library’s behavior is
customized using the Adapter configuration properties. These Adapter properties are used by
the resource adapter, but are also accessed and used by the prebuilt Collaborations.
About HL7
HL7 is a standard for exchanging information between medical applications and is an
abbreviation of Health Level Seven. Level Seven refers to the seventh OSI layer protocol for the
health environment. HL7 defines the format and the content of the messages that applications
must use when exchanging data with each other under various circumstances.
Hospitals and other medical institutions typically use many different types of systems to
communicate with one another. Everything, from patient records to billing information, is
tracked and recorded in computer systems. In order for these different types of systems to
communicate with each other, they use a standard like HL7.
Note – In the computer world, a protocol is a formal, well-defined standard for exchanging
information between computer applications.
An important part of the HL7 standard is the ACKnowledgment protocol, also known as an
ACK. Every time an application accepts a message and consumes the data, it is expected to send
an ACKnowledgment message back to the sending application. The sending application is
expected to keep on sending a message until it has received an ACK message.
The TCP/IP HL7 Adapter Architecture
The TCP/IP HL7 Adapter's functionality comes from a combination of the TCP/IP HL7
Resource Adapter (RA), the predefined inbound and outbound HL7 Collaborations, and the
generic HL7 Message Libraries.
TCP/IP HL7 Resource Adapter
The TCP/IP HL7 Resource Adapter communicates with external HL7 systems, establishes and
maintains the TCP/IP socket, manages message enveloping, maintains the sequence numbering
file, and provides the HL7 protocol state to the Collaboration. The RA (Resource Adapter) is
configured from the Adapter Properties Editor.
HL7 Collaborations
The inbound and outbound HL7 Collaborations provide message validation, sequence
numbering, ACK and NAK generation, and recourse actions. The predefined HL7
Collaborations are designed to implement the HL7 standard protocol and inter-operate with
similar standard compliant systems by simply changing the Adapter property configuration.
Sun Adapter for TCP/IP HL7 Overview
Sun Adapter for TCP/IP HL7 User's Guide • October 2009 10