A pathology order interface based on the transmission of texts obtained from pathology requisitions and just-in-time construction of HL7 messages.

Background: A pathology order interface using Health Level 7 standards (HL7) generally has an HL7 client program that gathers information from the clinical electronic medical record system, packages the information in the form of HL7 message, and sends the message using secure communication protocols to an HL7 interface engine located on the pathology side. We describe an alternative approach that transmits the texts obtained from requisitions, with subsequent just-in-time construction of HL7 messages.

Materials And Methods: The order interface is between a dermatology clinic EMR and pathology information system.