What’s Included in a Professional HL7 Integration Service?

Key Takeaways

• A professional HL7 integration service helps connect different healthcare systems through proper interface setup, data mapping, and message formatting.
• Each connection is tested to ensure the data flows as expected.
• Once the system is live, monitoring helps catch problems early.
• If you’re planning an HL7 integration project, IdeaUsher can help you create a solution for your business requirements.

A professional HL7 integration service includes interface planning, software configuration, message mapping, and ongoing maintenance to link different medical systems It can also help reduce data errors and make healthcare workflows easier to manage. If you need an experienced HL7 integration service provider, you can contact IdeaUsher to discuss your project.

We’ve worked on HL7 integrations for several healthcare businesses and have hands-on experience with HL7 messaging and FHIR APIs. In this blog, we’ll explain what you can expect from a professional HL7 integration service and what to check before choosing a provider.

What Is Driving Demand for HL7 Integration Services?

The demand for HL7 integration services is growing as healthcare organizations use more systems that need to share data. EHRs are widely used, while digital health apps and FHIR-based systems also need access to clinical information. According to TrendX Insights, the HL7 market is projected to grow from $3.50 billion in 2025 to $12.12 billion by 2034, at a CAGR of 14.80%.

Source: TrendX Insights

EHR Adoption and Data Exchange

EHR adoption has made healthcare data exchange a regular part of clinical operations. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), 91% of office-based physicians and more than 99% of non-federal acute care hospitals had adopted certified EHRs as of 2024.

As more data moves into digital systems, healthcare organizations need reliable ways to share it between hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and other platforms.

The scale of healthcare operations adds to this need. HCA Healthcare reported $75.6 billion in revenue and more than 2.9% growth in equivalent admissions in 2025. Large healthcare networks handle significant amounts of clinical data, making reliable exchange important.

Digital Health and Connected Care

Digital health apps often need information stored in EHRs to support virtual care, monitoring, and other services. This has increased the need for reliable connections between healthcare applications and clinical systems. ONC research found that 73% of digital health companies use standards-based APIs when integrating with EHRs.

Teladoc Health is one example of a large digital health platform that connects with EMRs, health information exchanges, connected devices, and other data sources. The company reported $2.53 billion in revenue and 17.1 million telehealth visits in 2025.

Legacy HL7 to FHIR

FHIR is becoming more important in healthcare, but many organizations still rely on HL7 v2. This means they often need both technologies to work together. ONC found that 70% of hospitals used standards-based APIs for patient access in 2024. Health information exchanges also continue to use HL7 v2 and CDA for data exchange.

Regulations are also supporting this shift. CMS requires certain impacted payers to implement and maintain HL7 FHIR APIs for patient access, provider access, and other interoperability use cases.

ONC has also finalized additional FHIR standards covering areas such as prior authorization, payer-provider data exchange, drug formularies, and provider directories.

What Should an HL7 Integration Service Include?

A professional HL7 integration service should cover the full journey from understanding your healthcare workflow to keeping the integration running after launch. It should handle interface design, message mapping, system connectivity, testing, deployment, and ongoing monitoring. The exact work depends on the systems being connected and the type of data they exchange. 

If you’re looking for an experienced HL7 integration service provider, you can contact IdeaUsher to discuss your requirements and find the right approach for your project.

1. Healthcare System Assessment

Before building an interface, the provider needs to understand how your healthcare systems currently work. This includes reviewing the EHR, EMR, laboratory or other systems involved and identifying how data needs to move between them. The goal is to find gaps early and decide what type of integration will work best for your workflow.

A good assessment should answer a few basic questions:

This becomes especially important for large healthcare networks. HCA Healthcare reported $75.6 billion in revenue and a 2.9% increase in equivalent admissions. A healthcare organization operating at this scale can have many systems and workflows that depend on reliable data exchange.

2. HL7 Interface Architecture

Once the requirements are clear, the next step is deciding how the interface should work. The architecture determines how messages will travel between systems and where an interface engine, API, or other integration layer may be needed. It should also leave room for future systems instead of creating another difficult point-to-point connection.

A professional service may work with:

• HL7 v2 messaging
• FHIR APIs
• MLLP and TCP/IP
• REST or SOAP APIs
• Interface engines
• Cloud or hybrid environments

Chetu’s HL7 service offerings also cover interface engines, EHR and EMR connectivity, FHIR, communication protocols, and different healthcare systems.

3. HL7 Message Development

Different healthcare workflows require different HL7 messages. A professional integration service configures the messages needed for the specific workflow instead of treating every integration in the same way. This helps ensure that each system receives the right information at the right time.

Common examples include:

The service may also need to support custom fields or Z-segments when a healthcare vendor has its own implementation requirements. This is one reason HL7 projects often require more than basic message configuration. Chetu, for example, lists support for ADT, ORM, ORU, MFN, SCH, SIU, and other HL7 messaging standards.

4. Data Mapping and Transformation

Healthcare systems do not always store or format information in the same way. Data mapping makes sure that a field from one system reaches the correct field in another system. Transformation may also be needed when the source and destination use different structures or standards.

This can involve:

• Patient and provider data
• Orders and results
• Clinical codes
• Dates and identifiers
• HL7 segments and fields
• Custom vendor requirements

ONC found that 46% of health information exchanges mapped non-standard laboratory test or result codes to LOINC. This shows how important mapping can become when healthcare organizations exchange data from different sources.

5. System Connectivity

The integration also needs a reliable way to move data between systems. The right method depends on the EHR, interface engine, security requirements, and the type of information being exchanged. A well-planned connection also helps keep data moving without unnecessary delays or failures.

For example, a project may use:

MLLP → HL7 v2 messages → Interface Engine → EHR

or

FHIR API → Integration Layer → Digital Health Application

Healthcare organizations may also need SFTP, TCP/IP, REST, SOAP, or other connection methods. Chetu lists these communication approaches among the protocols used in its HL7 integration work.

6. Interface Testing

An interface should not go directly into production after development. Testing helps confirm that messages are structured correctly and that the receiving system can process them as expected. It also helps identify missing data, rejected messages, and workflow problems before they affect users.

Testing can cover:

• HL7 message validation
• Field-level mapping
• Positive and negative scenarios
• EHR sandbox testing
• End-to-end workflows
• Error and acknowledgment handling
• Performance testing

This matters as healthcare organizations increasingly use APIs alongside traditional interfaces. ONC reports that about 9 in 10 hospitals enabled patient access through an API, while 7 in 10 used standards-based APIs such as FHIR.

7. Deployment and Go-Live

After testing, the interface needs to be moved into the production environment. A professional service should handle the deployment carefully and verify that messages continue to reach the correct systems after the switch.

The go-live stage may include:

• Production configuration
• Security checks
• Final message testing
• Data flow verification
• User or clinical validation
• Initial production monitoring

The aim is to make the transition without disrupting existing healthcare workflows.

8. Post-Go-Live Support

HL7 integration does not end when the interface goes live. EHR configurations can change, new workflows may be introduced, and message errors can appear as systems evolve. Ongoing monitoring helps identify these issues before they become larger problems. A support service may include interface monitoring, error resolution, mapping updates, performance checks, and changes to existing integrations. This is especially useful for organizations running several interfaces at once, where a single failed connection can interrupt an important data flow.

What Connectivity Options Are Supported by HL7 Integration Services?

HL7 integration services can support several ways of moving healthcare data between systems. The right option depends on the systems being connected, the type of HL7 data being exchanged, and the security needs of the organization. A professional integration setup may combine older methods such as MLLP with newer approaches such as REST APIs and FHIR.

1. MLLP and TCP/IP

MLLP is one of the most common ways to transmit HL7 v2 messages. It works over TCP/IP and is widely used to connect hospital systems with EHRs and interface engines. The connection can support real-time message exchange and acknowledgments between the sending and receiving systems. 

Typical flow:

EHR → MLLP/TCP → Interface Engine → Hospital System

MLLP itself does not provide encryption, so healthcare organizations often use a VPN or another secure network layer around it. 

2. REST and SOAP APIs

REST and SOAP APIs are useful when healthcare systems need to exchange information through web-based services. REST is especially common with modern applications and FHIR, while SOAP can still be found in older healthcare environments.

Oracle Health, for example, provides open FHIR APIs that allow external applications to connect with its Millennium EHR platform. Its APIs use FHIR and SMART Health IT to support secure application access to EHR data. 

3. SFTP and Secure File Exchange

Some healthcare systems still exchange data through files rather than real-time APIs. SFTP provides a secure way to transfer these files between organizations or systems. It can be useful for batch processing when large amounts of data do not need to be exchanged instantly.

For example, an integration may collect healthcare records in a structured file and transfer them through SFTP to another system for processing. AWS also identifies SFTP as a secure option that can be used alongside HL7 v2 architectures. 

4. VPN-Based Connectivity

A VPN can create a secure connection between a healthcare organization’s private network and an external integration environment. This is particularly useful when an HL7 system communicates through MLLP but needs to send data across a public network. Google Cloud’s HL7 architecture, for example, uses MLLP over TCP/IP with Cloud VPN to connect an on-premises care system with its healthcare services. The VPN encrypts traffic between the two networks. 

A common setup is:

Hospital Network → VPN → Integration Layer → EHR / Cloud System

5. Database and File Integrations

Not every integration needs an API. Some healthcare environments still depend on databases, local files, network folders, or scheduled file transfers. In these cases, the integration layer can read the required information, transform it, and send it to the destination system.

This approach can be useful when connecting older systems that were not designed around modern APIs. Integration engines can support database connections such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server alongside local files and SFTP. 

6. Cloud-Based Data Transfer

Cloud-based integration makes it easier to connect healthcare systems that operate across different locations and infrastructure environments. It can also support scalable processing when the amount of healthcare data increases.

Google Cloud’s Healthcare API, for example, can receive HL7 v2 messages through an MLLP adapter and then make them available to cloud-based services. Its architecture can also use Pub/Sub notifications when new HL7 messages are received. 

7. API-Based Healthcare Integration

APIs have become an important part of modern EHR connectivity. They allow healthcare applications to request or send specific information without relying only on traditional HL7 messaging. This is especially useful for patient apps, telehealth platforms, analytics tools, and other connected healthcare products.

Another example is athenahealth. Its athenaPractice and athenaFlow platforms provide FHIR APIs that allow approved applications to securely pull or push healthcare data. The platform also supports interoperability with hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and other healthcare organizations through HL7, CCD, FHIR, and TEFCA. 

What Can an HL7 Integration Service Help You Build?

An HL7 integration service can help healthcare organizations connect different clinical and business systems through reliable data exchange. Depending on the project, this can include EHR and EMR integration, interface engines, health information exchanges, data management platforms, and imaging systems. The goal is to make information easier to share while keeping existing healthcare workflows intact.

1. HL7 EHR, EMR, and PMS Integration

HL7 integration can connect EHR, EMR, and practice management systems so that patient and clinical information can move between them. This can include demographics, orders, results, appointments, billing information, and other data needed by connected systems. A professional integration service can also handle vendor-specific message formats when two systems do not follow the same implementation.

This becomes useful when a healthcare organization uses several platforms at once. Instead of entering the same information into each system, an integration layer can move the required data automatically.

athenahealth is one example of a healthcare platform built around this type of interoperability. Its marketplace and integration capabilities support connections with EHRs, hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and other healthcare systems. The company also provides FHIR-based APIs for applications that need access to clinical data. (athenahealth)

2. HL7 Interface Engine Development

An HL7 interface engine acts as the middle layer between healthcare systems. It can receive a message from one system, validate it, transform the data, and route it to the correct destination. This is useful when an organization has several systems that need to exchange different types of healthcare data.

A typical architecture can look like:

EHR → HL7 Interface Engine → Mapping & Validation → Hospital Systems

The engine can also manage acknowledgments, message queues, routing rules, and failed messages. This becomes increasingly important as the number of connected systems grows.

3. Third-Party Interface Engine Integration

Healthcare organizations do not always need to build an interface engine from scratch. An HL7 integration service can work with existing engines and configure them around the organization’s workflows.

Common options include:

• Mirth Connect
• Rhapsody
• Cloverleaf
• Qvera
• Cerner OpenLink

The important part is making the engine work with the healthcare systems already in place. It may need custom mapping, routing rules, transformations, and error handling for each connection.

4. Health Data Management Solutions

HL7 integration can also feed healthcare data into a central platform where information from different systems can be processed and analyzed. This is useful when organizations want to bring together clinical information from EHRs, laboratories, hospitals, or other sources.

The flow may look like:

Multiple Healthcare Systems → HL7 Integration → Data Platform → Analytics

The scale of healthcare data platforms can be significant. Health Catalyst reported $311.1 million in revenue and had more than 1,200 employees at the end of 2025. Its platform focuses on bringing healthcare data together for analytics and operational improvement. 

5. Health Information Exchange Integration

Health Information Exchange integration allows healthcare organizations to share patient information across different providers and systems. HL7 can support the exchange of clinical messages while other standards can be used for documents, APIs, and different types of healthcare data.

This is especially useful for organizations that need to share information beyond a single hospital or EHR environment.

Optum is another example of a large healthcare organization supporting this type of connectivity. Its interoperability APIs allow approved third-party applications to connect with Optum data, with separate APIs available for areas such as behavioral and physical health. Optum has also continued updating its API releases, including a Tooele County Behavioral Health API update in 2025. 

6. HL7 PACS and DICOM Integration

HL7 can also work alongside DICOM when healthcare organizations need to connect clinical information with medical imaging. HL7 can carry patient and workflow information while DICOM handles medical images and related imaging data.

For example:

EHR → HL7 → Imaging Workflow → PACS → DICOM Images

This can help connect the patient’s clinical record with radiology studies and imaging systems. Epic’s interoperability platform supports PACS integration through APIs for single sign-on, patient context synchronization, study context synchronization, and real-time measurement exchange.

What Custom HL7 Integration Solutions Can Include?

Custom HL7 integration can be built around the specific needs of a healthcare organization rather than forcing every system into the same setup. It can connect EHRs with patient-facing applications, mobile health platforms, wearables, telehealth systems, billing platforms, and enterprise data environments. The right solution depends on what data needs to move and how the existing healthcare systems are structured.

1. Custom EHR and Patient Data Integration

A custom HL7 integration can connect an EHR or EMR with other systems that need access to patient information. This may include demographics, medications, diagnoses, orders, results, appointments, and other clinical data. The integration can also handle differences between vendors so that information reaches the correct system in the format it expects.

A typical setup can look like:

EHR → HL7 Interface → Data Mapping → Healthcare Application

This approach is useful when an organization has several platforms but wants to avoid entering the same patient information more than once. Oracle Health, for example, provides FHIR R4 and EHR APIs through its Millennium Platform and also supports custom applications through its developer ecosystem.

2. HL7 Integration Software Solutions

Custom HL7 software can bring different healthcare standards and workflows into one integration layer. This may include HL7 v2 messaging alongside CDA, CCD, FHIR, and other healthcare data formats. Instead of building separate connections for every system, a central integration layer can handle:

Oracle Integration for Healthcare supports 12 HL7 v2 versions, ranging from 2.3.1 through 2.9. It also supports FHIR, CDA, MLLP, custom FHIR resources, message customization, and runtime monitoring.

3. Custom Mobile Health Applications

Mobile health apps often need clinical information from an EHR to provide useful services. A custom HL7 integration can connect the app to the required healthcare data while keeping the EHR as the main source of patient information.

For example, a patient app may need access to:

• Patient demographics
• Appointments
• Medications
• Lab results
• Clinical records

FHIR APIs are becoming particularly useful for these applications. Oracle Health supports FHIR R4 APIs and SMART authorization, allowing applications to securely request authorized EHR data.

4. Enterprise and Cloud Integration

Large healthcare organizations often have a mix of older systems and newer cloud applications. Custom HL7 integration can act as the bridge between these environments without requiring the organization to replace everything at once.

The architecture may look like:

Legacy EHR → HL7 → Integration Layer → Cloud Platform → Analytics / Applications

Cloud integration also makes it easier to process growing volumes of healthcare data. Oracle Health’s Clinical Data Exchange, for example, uses cloud infrastructure and FHIR-based data exchange to connect providers and payers with clinical information.

5. HL7 Wearable Technology Integration

Wearables can generate continuous health information that may be useful to healthcare applications and clinical teams. Custom integration can connect device data with a healthcare platform and convert it into a format that other systems can use. For example, a connected device may send:

Wearable → Device Gateway → FHIR/HL7 Layer → EHR or Health Platform

Oracle’s Device Data FHIR Service is designed to work with health data from devices, applications, and third-party systems. It supports FHIR APIs and can be used to build device gateways and EHR extensions.

6. Revenue Cycle and Claims Integration

HL7 integration is not limited to clinical information. Healthcare organizations can also connect clinical systems with billing and revenue cycle workflows. This allows information about services, procedures, orders, and patient activity to move into financial systems without repeated manual entry.

A custom integration can help connect:

EHR → Clinical Data → Billing System → Claims Workflow

This becomes valuable for large healthcare organizations where even small data-entry problems can affect billing accuracy and payment processing. The integration can also be designed to validate information before it reaches downstream financial systems.

7. Custom Telehealth Integration

Telehealth platforms often need to work with EHRs so that virtual care does not become a separate data silo. A custom HL7 or FHIR integration can help move patient details, appointments, clinical notes, orders, and results between the telehealth platform and the healthcare system.

For a telehealth provider, this type of connection can make the virtual visit part of the patient’s existing care workflow rather than keeping it in a separate application.

What Can an HL7 FHIR Integration Service Include?

A professional HL7 FHIR integration service can help healthcare organizations build secure connections between EHRs, healthcare applications, and other clinical systems. It can cover FHIR API development, resource and data modeling, system integration, and SMART on FHIR applications. The exact scope depends on the data that needs to be exchanged and how the connected systems are expected to work together.

1. FHIR Interface Development

FHIR interface development allows applications to access and exchange healthcare information through standardized resources and APIs. A professional service can build FHIR endpoints, configure resources, handle authentication, and connect the API with an existing EHR or healthcare platform. This makes it easier for different applications to work with the same clinical information. FHIR is already widely used for EHR connectivity. 

Common FHIR resources may include:

2. FHIR System Modules

A FHIR-based healthcare system can include different modules depending on what the organization needs to manage. These modules use FHIR resources to organize information and make it available to authorized applications.

A typical system may include:

• Patient and provider management
• Clinical records
• Medications and allergies
• Diagnostics and observations
• Appointments and workflows
• Billing and claims
• Terminology management
• Security and authorization

Oracle Health’s Millennium Platform, for example, provides FHIR R4 APIs for resources such as Account, AllergyIntolerance, Appointment, Binary, Bundle, and CapabilityStatement. It also supports Bulk Data Access for authorized EHR data.

This modular approach makes it easier to expose only the information an application actually needs instead of creating a separate integration for every workflow.

3. FHIR Integration Solutions

FHIR integration can connect modern applications with existing EHRs and other healthcare systems. A professional service can work with REST APIs, JSON, XML, FHIR resources, and existing HL7 interfaces to move information between systems. The practical need for this is already visible across hospitals.

The integration may look like:

EHR → FHIR API → Integration Layer → Healthcare App

or:

HL7 v2 System → Transformation Layer → FHIR API → Modern Application

This allows organizations to modernize parts of their healthcare infrastructure without replacing every existing system.

4. SMART on FHIR Applications

SMART on FHIR adds a secure application framework around FHIR. It allows applications to connect with an EHR while using standardized authorization and patient context. This makes it useful for clinical applications that need to work inside or alongside an EHR. A SMART application can, for example, open from an EHR with the current patient context and request permission to access specific FHIR resources. 

Oracle Health supports SMART applications through its Millennium Platform and provides sandbox environments for testing these applications.

The basic flow is:

EHR → SMART App Launch → OAuth 2.0 Authorization → FHIR Resources

Oracle Health currently supports SMART Application Launch 1.0.0, SMART Application Launch 2.0.0, and SMART Backend Services. Its authorization framework uses OAuth 2.0 to control access to protected EHR resources.

Contact IdeaUsher for a Professional HL7 Integration Service

IdeaUsher provides professional HL7 integration services to help healthcare businesses connect their systems and exchange data more efficiently. We have 500,000+ hours of coding experience and a team that includes ex-MAANG and FAANG developers. Our team can help with both simple interfaces and more complex healthcare integration needs. 

Custom HL7 Interface Development

We build custom HL7 interfaces based on your healthcare workflow and the systems you need to connect. This includes support for different HL7 message types and vendor-specific requirements. The interface can be designed around your specific data flow instead of forcing your workflow into a fixed setup.

EHR and EMR Integration

We connect EHR and EMR systems with other healthcare platforms so patient and clinical data can move between them more smoothly. Our team can work with both existing systems and new healthcare applications. This helps reduce manual data entry and keeps important information available across connected systems.

HL7 v2 and FHIR Development

We work with HL7 v2 and FHIR to support both traditional healthcare messaging and modern API-based data exchange. This can also help connect older HL7 systems with newer FHIR-based applications. It gives healthcare businesses a practical way to modernize their integration setup without replacing every existing system.

Complex Data Mapping and Transformation

Different healthcare systems may store and format data in different ways. We create custom mapping and transformation logic to help ensure that the right information reaches the right system in the expected format. This is especially useful when working with vendor-specific fields or complex healthcare data flows.

Conclusion

A professional HL7 integration service does more than connect healthcare systems. It helps your systems share data in the right way and keeps the workflow running smoothly. A good provider can also help when you need to connect older HL7 systems with newer FHIR-based applications. If you’re planning an HL7 integration project, IdeaUsher can help you build a secure solution that fits your needs. 

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