HL7 to Offer its Standards for Free

HL7 International has announced it will make much of its intellectual property, including its widely used V2.x, V3 and CDA interoperability standards, free under licence to the international healthcare community. In what is being touted as one of the most important breakthroughs in interoperability in a decade, the global healthcare standards-making body said it will spend the next few months planning for the move with the policy expected to take effect early next year...

Richard Dixon-Hughes, chair of HL7 Australia and chair of the HL7 International advisory council which made the recommendation, said it was a step in the right direction that would be greatly welcomed by members and the wider eHealth community. “It opens up opportunities for more open collaboration among health information standards developers,” Mr Dixon-Hughes said. “It helps HL7 to partner with many others in the standards development and software development communities who are committed to making their products available free of charge.”

Mr Dixon-Hughes said there would be an effect on HL7's revenue, but “it is not as if the standards are being given away; they will be licensed and properly managed like any open source product,” he said. “The benefactor members of the main organisation are strongly behind this and it will greatly facilitate world-wide acceptance and uptake of HL7 standards. “It is a strategic decision but HL7 International has recently built up its membership base and the members have indicated they are prepared to stick by it. There are many benefits to being a member, such as our education programs.”...