Here is a sample HL7 message:
MSH|^~\&||.|||199908180016||ADT^A04|ADT.1.1698593|P|2.7
PID|1||000395122||LEVERKUHN^ADRIAN^C||19880517180606|M|||6 66TH AVE NE^^WEIMAR^DL^98052||(157)983-3296|||S||12354768|87654321
NK1|1|TALLIS^THOMAS^C|GRANDFATHER|12914 SPEM ST^^ALIUM^IN^98052|(157)883-6176
NK1|2|WEBERN^ANTON|SON|12 STRASSE MUSIK^^VIENNA^AUS^11212|(123)456-7890
IN1|1|PRE2||LIFE PRUDENT BUYER|PO BOX 23523^WELLINGTON^ON^98111|||19601||||||||THOMAS^JAMES^M|F|||||||||||||||||||ZKA535529776
The above message is divided into four different types of segments: MSH, PID, NK1 and IN1.
A segment contains fields separated by the | field separator. Fields can be further separated by ^, the so-called component separator, and contain sub-components denoted by the & symbol.
MSH (Message Header) tells the purpose of the message, e.g. its ID, seeding application, sending facility, receiving application, receiving facility, the type, date and time of the message, its HL7 version, etc...
PID (Patient Identification) holds information about the patient e.g. their ID, name, DOB, address, gender, race, admission date and time etc..
NK1 (Next of Kin) contains details of the person's closest relative/friend.
IN1 (Insurance 1) has details about the health insurance the patient has like Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, etc. It contains the insurance plan ID, the name of the insurance company, the company's address, the name of the insured person, policy number etc...
