In a development that could have profound implications for the blood community in coming years, Health Level Seven (HL7) International gave final approval to a plan to extend the HL7 standard used by many hospitals into the blood center environment.

The HL7 Orders and Observations Work Group balloted and passed a preliminary version of the HL7 Version 2.6 Implementation Guide: Blood Bank Donation Services, Release 1, after an initial round of balloting in May. Earlier this month, a slightly revised version of the Implementation Guide was approved 27‐0 in a second ballot. Formal approval of the document came during HL7’s 25th Annual Plenary and Working Group Meeting this week (Sept. 11‐16, 2011) in San Diego, Calif.

After the necessary paperwork is filed, the Implementation Guide will be published and made available to HL7 members. Once published, the guide can be accessed under the “Version 2.x Messaging Standard – Version 2.x Informative Documents” section of the HL7 Standards page on the HL7.org website.