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Scope and content

The HL7 Europe Hospital Discharge Report FHIR Implementation Guide defines a standard approach for representing and exchanging hospital discharge reports using HL7 FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) within the European context. It is aligned with the eHealth Network (eHN) Guidelines on Hospital Discharge Reports, supporting the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and ensuring interoperability across EU Member States.

This Implementation Guide aims to enable the consistent and interoperable exchange of hospital discharge information using the HL7 FHIR standard. It supports healthcare providers, IT vendors, and public health authorities in implementing cross-border exchange of hospital discharge data. The guide addresses the representation of structured and narrative clinical information to ensure the continuity of care in cross-border and national healthcare settings.

The scope of this guide includes:

• Defining FHIR profiles and extensions necessary for representing hospital discharge reports as structured and narrative documents.
• Providing alignment with existing eHN guidelines, the EHDS logical models currently developped by the Xt-EHR joint action and international standards (like HL7 IPS).
• Supporting the use of internationally recognized coding systems (e.g., SNOMED CT, ICD-10, LOINC) to ensure semantic interoperability.