HL7 document patient record architecture: an XML document architecture based on a shared information model.

The HL7 SGML/XML Special Interest Group is developing the HL7 Document Patient Record Architecture. This draft proposal strives to create a common data architecture for the interoperability of healthcare documents. Key components are that it is under the umbrella of HL7 standards, it is specified in Extensible Markup Language, the semantics are drawn from the HL7 Reference Information Model, and the document specifications form an architecture that, in aggregate, define the semantics and structural constraints necessary for the exchange of clinical documents. The proposal is a work in progress and has not yet been submitted to HL7's formal balloting process.