HL7 Integration Services

Q: How long does an HL7 interface take to build?

A single point-to-point ADT interface typically takes 2–4 weeks including specification, development, testing, and go-live. Bidirectional order/result interfaces (ORM/ORU) with custom Z-segments generally require 4–8 weeks. Enterprise-wide projects spanning multiple message types across numerous systems can take 3–6 months. The largest variables are vendor responsiveness during testing and the completeness of interface specifications — factors we help manage through structured project planning.

Q: What's the difference between HL7 v2 and FHIR?

HL7 v2 uses pipe-delimited messages transmitted over persistent MLLP/TCP connections — it is event-driven and handles approximately 95% of real-time clinical data exchange in US hospitals. FHIR uses RESTful APIs with JSON over HTTPS, designed for web applications, patient portals, and regulatory requirements like the CMS Interoperability rules. Most organizations use both — HL7 v2 for existing clinical messaging and FHIR for new API-based integrations. We help you bridge both standards with dual-protocol interfaces.

Q: Do you support custom Z-segments?

Yes — Z-segments are a core part of most HL7 implementations. We develop Z-segment specifications, mapping documents, and implementation guides for site-specific data elements like custom patient identifiers (ZPD), insurance plan details (ZIN), clinical trial enrollment data, and facility-specific billing codes. Every Z-segment we build includes complete field definitions, data type documentation, and optionality rules for consistent implementation.

Q: Can you connect our EHR to a lab, pharmacy, or HIE?

Yes — EHR-to-ancillary integration is one of our most common engagements. We build HL7 interfaces between EHR systems (Epic, Oracle Health, MEDITECH, athenahealth) and laboratory information systems, pharmacy systems, radiology platforms, and Health Information Exchanges. This typically involves ADT feeds for patient context, ORM/ORU for order/result workflows, and sometimes SIU for scheduling synchronization. See our HIE integration services for exchange connectivity.

Q: What HL7 message types do you work with?

We build interfaces for all standard HL7 v2 message types: ADT (patient movement), ORU (clinical results), ORM (orders), SIU (scheduling), MDM (documents), DFT (financial transactions), RDE (pharmacy), VXU (immunizations), and ACK (acknowledgments). Each message type has specific trigger events and segment structures — for example, ADT^A01 for admissions and ORU^R01 for lab results. See our HL7 reference documentation for detailed breakdowns.

We build HL7 v2 interfaces that connect Epic, Oracle Health, MEDITECH, and clinical systems — ADT feeds, order routing, result delivery, and HL7 to FHIR bridging.

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HL7 v2 Integration Expertise

Reliable HL7 Interfaces for Healthcare Providers & Vendors

Saga IT builds and supports HL7 v2 interfaces for healthcare providers and third-party vendors connecting to Epic, Oracle Health, MEDITECH, and other EHR platforms. Whether you're a health system consolidating ADT feeds across departments or a software vendor building HL7 interfaces into your product — we handle specification, development, testing, and go-live support.

US Based

10+ Years

100M+ Patient Records

What We Build

HL7 v2 Interface Development

From single-point ADT feeds to enterprise-wide message routing — we build reliable HL7 v2 interfaces for every major message type. For technical deep-dives, see our HL7 reference documentation.

ADT — Admit, Discharge, Transfer

Real-time patient movement tracking that keeps demographics synchronized across your clinical ecosystem. We build A01 through A44 trigger event handlers including merge handling (A40) and pre-admit workflows. ADT message reference →

Registration, admission, discharge, and transfer event handling
Patient merge and link/unlink event processing (A40, A24)
Census updates and bed management integration
Pre-admit and pending transfer workflows

ORU — Observation Results

ORM — Order Messages

SIU — Scheduling

DFT — Financial Transactions

MDM — Medical Documents

Need an HL7 interface built? Let's talk.

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HL7 V2 ↔ FHIR

Same Clinical Data, Two Standards

Every HL7 v2 segment maps to a FHIR resource. We build interfaces in both — and bridge them when you're ready to modernize.

Patient Identity

PID→Patient

HL7 v2 Segment

PID|1||MRN12345^^^HOSP^MR||DOE^JANE^M||19850415|F|||123 MAIN ST^^MIAMI^FL^33101|||555-0123|555-0456

PID-3 Medical Record Number

PID-5 Patient Name (Family^Given^Middle)

PID-7 Date of Birth (YYYYMMDD)

PID-8 Administrative Sex

PID-11 Patient Address

Patient Identity

FHIR R4 Resource

"resourceType": "Patient", "identifier": [{ "system": "urn:oid:HOSP", "value": "MRN12345", "type": "MR" }], "name": [{ "family": "DOE", "given": ["JANE", "M"] }], "birthDate": "1985-04-15", "gender": "female", "address": [{ "line": ["123 MAIN ST"], "city": "MIAMI", "state": "FL" }]

Patient Visit

PV1→Encounter

HL7 v2 Segment

PV1|1|I|4E^401^A^^^HOSP||||ATT1234^SMITH^JANE^^^MD|||MED||||||2|V123456^^^HOSP^VN|||||||||||||||||20260321080000|20260325160000

PV1-2 Patient Class — I (Inpatient)

PV1-3 Location — Unit 4E, Room 401, Bed A

PV1-7 Attending — Dr. Jane Smith, MD

PV1-19 Visit Number — V123456

PV1-44 Admit Date — 2026-03-21 08:00

Patient Visit

FHIR R4 Resource

"resourceType": "Encounter", "status": "in-progress", "class": { "code": "IMP", "display": "Inpatient" }, "location": [{ "location": { "display": "4E-401-A" } }], "participant": [{ "individual": { "display": "Dr. Jane Smith" } }], "period": { "start": "2026-03-21T08:00:00" }

Clinical Results

OBX→Observation

HL7 v2 Segment

OBX|1|NM|2345-7^Glucose^LN||98|mg/dL|70-100|N|||F

OBX-2 Value Type — NM (Numeric)

OBX-3 LOINC Code — 2345-7 Glucose

OBX-5 Result Value — 98

OBX-6 Units — mg/dL

OBX-7 Reference Range — 70-100

OBX-8 Abnormal Flag — N (Normal)

OBX-11 Status — F (Final)

Clinical Results

FHIR R4 Resource

"resourceType": "Observation", "status": "final", "code": { "coding": [{ "system": "http://loinc.org", "code": "2345-7", "display": "Glucose" }] }, "valueQuantity": { "value": 98, "unit": "mg/dL", "system": "http://unitsofmeasure.org" }, "interpretation": [{ "coding": [{ "code": "N", "display": "Normal" }] }]

Clinical Orders

ORC + OBR→ServiceRequest

HL7 v2 Segments (2)

ORC|NW|ORD456^^^HOSP|ACC789^^^LAB||CM|||20260321|||ATT1234^SMITH^JANE^^^MD
OBR|1|ORD456^^^HOSP|ACC789^^^LAB|80053^CMP^CPT

ORC-1 Order Control — NW (New Order)

ORC-2 Placer Order # — ORD456

ORC-3 Filler Order # — ACC789

ORC-5 Order Status — CM (Complete)

OBR-4 Order Code — 80053 CMP

Clinical Orders

FHIR R4 Resource

"resourceType": "ServiceRequest", "status": "completed", "intent": "order", "identifier": [{ "type": "PLAC", "value": "ORD456" }, { "type": "FILL", "value": "ACC789" }], "code": { "coding": [{ "system": "http://www.ama-assn.org/go/cpt", "code": "80053", "display": "CMP" }] }, "requester": { "display": "Dr. Jane Smith" }

The Complete Picture

ADT^A01→Bundle

HL7 v2 Message

MSH|^~\&|EPIC|HOSP|LAB|HOSP|20260321080000||ADT^A01^ADT_A01|MSG001|P|2.5.1
PID|1||MRN12345||DOE^JANE||19850415|F
PV1|1|I|4E^401^A||||ATT1234^SMITH^JANE^^^MD
OBX|1|NM|2345-7^Glucose^LN||98|mg/dL|70-100|N|||F

Full Message

FHIR R4 Bundle

"resourceType": "Bundle", "type": "message", "entry": [ { "resource": { "resourceType": "Patient", "identifier": [{ "value": "MRN12345" }] } }, { "resource": { "resourceType": "Encounter", "class": {"code": "IMP"} } }, { "resource": { "resourceType": "Observation", "valueQuantity": { "value": 98 } } } ]

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EHR Systems We Integrate

Epic

FHIR R4 APIs & App Orchard

Oracle Health

Millennium & Oracle Cloud

MEDITECH

Expanse & legacy platforms

eClinicalWorks

healow & practice management

NextGen

Specialty & ambulatory

athenahealth

Cloud-native athenaOne

Don't see your EHR? We build HL7 interfaces for any system. Get in touch to discuss your integration.

Case Studies

HL7 Integration in Action

How we build, integrate, and deploy clinical software that transforms patient care.

Point-of-Care Device to EHR Integration

A healthcare system deployed a new point-of-care diagnostic device that generates multiple vital signs and lab values. Raw data points from the device are transformed into standardized FHIR Observation resources and stored directly in the EHR system, enabling real-time clinical decision support without manual data entry.

POC Device

"temp": 38.2,
"hr": 94,
"bp_sys": 128,
"spo2": 97

FHIR Transform

"resourceType": "Observation",
"code": { "coding": [{
"code": "8310-5"
}] }

EHR Storage

AI-Powered Clinical Diagnostics

A health system implemented machine learning algorithms that analyze patient data to identify at-risk conditions. The ML model consumes Patient resources from the EHR along with lab results and clinical observations, processes multiple data points through the algorithm, and outputs condition predictions that support clinical decision-making.

Patient Data

"resourceType": "Patient"
// HbA1c, Glucose, BMI
"HbA1c": 7.2

ML Algorithm

predict(patient_id, {
  features: ["HbA1c",
    "BMI", "Glucose"],
  model: "diabetes-risk-v2"
})

Condition Identified

SMART on FHIR Clinical Decision Support in Epic

A healthcare organization deployed a custom SMART on FHIR application embedded within their Epic EHR. The app pulls imaging results and clinical notes from Epic's FHIR API, runs diagnostic analysis to surface relevant findings, and renders actionable insights directly within the clinician's Epic workflow.

Epic EHR

GET /ImagingStudy?patient={id}
GET /DocumentReference
?category=clinical-note

SMART on FHIR App

launch(iss, launch_token)
// SMART authorization
analyzeDiagnostics(
imaging, notes)

In-Context Results

FAQ

HL7 Integration Questions

How long does an HL7 interface take to build?

What's the difference between HL7 v2 and FHIR?

Do you support custom Z-segments?

Can you connect our EHR to a lab, pharmacy, or HIE?

What HL7 message types do you work with?

Related Services

Explore More Services

FHIR API Integration

Modernize HL7 v2 interfaces with FHIR R4 APIs.

Explore FHIR API Integration

Resources

docsHL7 Reference Documentation blogHL7 v2 vs FHIR — Complete Comparison

Talk to an HL7 Integration Expert

From ADT feeds to complex message routing — let's build your HL7 interfaces.

HL7 Integration Services

Reliable HL7 Interfaces for Healthcare Providers & Vendors

HL7 v2 Interface Development

ADT — Admit, Discharge, Transfer

ORU — Observation Results

ORM — Order Messages

SIU — Scheduling

DFT — Financial Transactions

MDM — Medical Documents

Same Clinical Data, Two Standards

EHR Systems We Integrate

Epic

Oracle Health

MEDITECH

eClinicalWorks

NextGen

athenahealth

HL7 Integration in Action

Point-of-Care Device to EHR Integration

AI-Powered Clinical Diagnostics

SMART on FHIR Clinical Decision Support in Epic

HL7 Integration Questions

Explore More Services

FHIR API Integration

Mirth Connect

Epic Integration

HIE Integration

Talk to an HL7 Integration Expert