HL7 Europe Imaging Study Report
0.1.0 - ci-build 150

HL7 Europe Imaging Study Report, published by HL7 Europe. This guide is not an authorized publication; it is the continuous build for version 0.1.0 built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) CI Build. This version is based on the current content of https://github.com/hl7-eu/imaging/ and changes regularly. See the Directory of published versions

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Official URL: http://hl7.eu/fhir/imaging/ImplementationGuide/hl7.fhir.eu.imaging Version: 0.1.0
Draft as of 2025-03-18 Computable Name: HL7EuImagingStudyReport

Copyright/Legal: Used by permission of HL7 Europe, all rights reserved Creative Commons License

This is an early draft of the specification that is still under rapid development. It is intended as a starting point of discussions and does not represent any final decisions.

The source of this IG is stored on github (https://github.com/hl7-eu/imaging).

The content of this implementation guide is discussed HL7 EU calls (HL7-eu imaging on Confluence).

This initial version is based on FHIR R5. Once the model stabilizes, the FHIR R4 version will be derived from it.

Scope

This implementation guide specifies imaging study data in the European context, as defined in eHN Imaging Studies and Reports, as a FHIR model. It defines:

  • The structure and contents of a FHIR imaging studies and reports.
  • Different options for publishing and searching for such studies and reports.
  • Discovery of available mechanisms to access the imaging data.

The specification is to be used in a variety of deployment models, which includes the EHDS use cases: exchange data within nations/regions and cross border information exchange.

Both on the national level as on cross border exchange, it has to fit into an existing ecosystem.

Current approaches within Europe use two different approaches to information exchange:

  • Document based exchange, the document is represented as a FHIR Document Bundle.
  • REST API based access to documents, a Composition and DiagnosticReport for each document including instances of the referred resources
  • REST API based access to resources, documents are provided (Composition + DiagnosticReport), the resources in the documents are aligned, i.e. they all point to the same Patient resource

The specification will be designed in such a way that it can be used in both deployment scenarios.

Timeline:

  • Feb 2025, kick-off during HL7-EU WGM.
  • May 2025, first planned ballot to be tested during May 2025 HL7 WGM in Madrid.
  • June 2025, testing in IHE-EU plug-a-thon in Vienna/
  • August 2025, first version

Purpose

The goal of this Implementation Guide is to define an European standard for the Imaging Study Report to facilitate the harmonization among the national initiatives and prepare the ground for the European EHR eXchange Format (E-EHRxF).

The development of this implementation guide is promoted by HL7 Europe, but realized in collaboration with several other European and national organizations and projects. The aspiration of this guide is that of being used as basis for European National Guides, the European EHRxF and - consequently - by MyHealth@EU for the EU cross-border services.

References

This specification defines the representation of the data sets required by Guideline on the electronic exchange of health data under Cross-Border Directive 2011/24/EU Medical imaging studies and reports, release 1.1".

Besides the requirements defined in the eHN Imaging Studies and Reports guidelines, it also uses input from other related activities:

  • Related activities in other Standard Development Organizations (SDO):

    • IHE-RAD
    • HL7 FHIR Imaging Integration

  • Related specifications:

    • IHE-IDR, draft version as discussed on Jan 19 2025
      • IHE-RAD is working on a machine readable specification for diagnostic reports of (common) radiology procedures. The draft results of this activity have been taken along in the definition of this IG.
    • HL7 EU Laboratory Reports
      • This specification has adopted many of the design patterns defined in this IG.
    • HL7 EU Hospital Discharge Reports
      • This specification has adopted many of the design patterns defined in this IG.
    • Argonaut Imaging
    • US core v7.0.0
      • Where possible this specification has been aligned with choices made in US core.

Dependencies

Package hl7.fhir.uv.extensions#5.2.0-ballot

This IG defines the global extensions - the ones defined for everyone. These extensions are always in scope wherever FHIR is being used (built Mon, Mar 10, 2025 03:25+0000+00:00)

Package hl7.fhir.uv.extensions.r4#5.2.0

This IG defines the global extensions - the ones defined for everyone. These extensions are always in scope wherever FHIR is being used (built Mon, Feb 10, 2025 21:45+1100+11:00)

Package hl7.fhir.eu.extensions#0.1.1

This guide lists the extensions speciifed for the European REALM. (built Sun, Mar 16, 2025 13:38+0000+00:00)

Package hl7.fhir.uv.extensions.r5#5.1.0

This IG defines the global extensions - the ones defined for everyone. These extensions are always in scope wherever FHIR is being used (built Sat, Apr 27, 2024 18:39+1000+10:00)

Package hl7.fhir.eu.extensions.r5#current

This guide lists the extensions speciifed for the European REALM. (built Thu, Feb 20, 2025 15:41+0000+00:00)

Package hl7.fhir.eu.base.r5#0.0.1-ci

This guide collects base and core profiles to be used in the European context. It also includes common artifacts, such as the profiles describing the European Health Insurance Card. (built Thu, Jan 16, 2025 21:19+0000+00:00)

Cross Version Analysis

Global Profiles

There are no Global profiles defined

IP statements

This publication includes IP covered under the following statements.

Authors and Contributors

Please refer to the Authors and Contributors page.