Which international standard defines the format and content of messages for electronic data exchange in healthcare?

The correct choice is HL7, which stands for Health Level Seven. HL7 is an organization that develops standards for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information. Specifically, HL7 standards define the format and content of messages used to exchange data among healthcare systems, ensuring that different systems can communicate effectively. This is crucial in healthcare as it allows for seamless data sharing between various providers, ensuring continuity of care and improved patient outcomes.

HL7 covers a wide range of interoperability topics, including clinical and administrative data exchange, which is essential for maintaining comprehensive electronic health records. The standard facilitates the standardized communication necessary to support patient care processes, from clinical data exchange to laboratory results, admission/discharge/transfer messages, and many more.

In contrast, CCI (Canadian Classification of Health Interventions) and ICD (International Classification of Diseases) are primarily focused on coding classifications rather than direct data exchange formats. URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a web technology used for addressing resources on the internet, which does not pertain specifically to healthcare data exchange standards. Thus, HL7 stands out as the benchmark for structuring healthcare messages.