Do we have standard for HL7 OBX-4 containment hierarchy

Question

I am processing HL7 message. OBX-4field gives containment hierarchy.I see different dotted hierarchy in the message. is there any standard for containment hierarchy dotted number?

For below example. will first dotted 1 always mean MDC_DEV_MON_PHYSIO_MULTI_PARAM_MDS and 2nd dot 5-always mean MDC_DEV_ECG_VMD. are these number configurable in the medical device.I want to store data uniquely based using MDS/VMD/CHAN.

Right now I am getting HL7 from one source..will these hierarchy will always be same for that source. is this would be valid if i get hl7 message from other source.

MDC_DEV_MON_PHYSIO_MULTI_PARAM_MDS/MDC_DEV_ECG_VMD/MDC_ECG_HEART_RATE to Acehive

1.5.0.1
1-MDC_DEV_MON_PHYSIO_MULTI_PARAM_MDS
5-MDC_DEV_ECG_VMD

13-MDC_DEV_METER_PRESS_BLD_VMD
1-MDC_DEV_METER_PRESS_BLD_CHAN

OBX|1||69965^MDC_DEV_MON_PHYSIO_MULTI_PARAM_MDS^MDC|1.0.0.0|||||||X
OBX|2||69798^MDC_DEV_ECG_VMD^MDC|1.5.0.0|||||||X
OBX|3|NM|147842^MDC_ECG_HEART_RATE^MDC|1.5.0.1|88|{beat}/min^{beat}/min^UCUM|||||R|||20200508051804.8340+0530||||DFG~01^^Y71A57FFFE6188F3^EUI-64
OBX|4|NM|148066^MDC_ECG_V_P_C_RATE^MDC|1.5.0.2|7|{beat}/min^{beat}/min^UCUM|||||R|||20200508051804.8340+0530||||DFG~01^^Y71A57FFFE6188F3^EUI-64    
OBX|17||69854^MDC_DEV_METER_PRESS_BLD_VMD^MDC|1.13.0.0|||||||X
OBX|18||69855^MDC_DEV_METER_PRESS_BLD_CHAN^MDC|1.13.1.0|||||||X    OBX|19|NM|150018^MDC_PRESS_BLD_DIA^MDC|1.13.1.15|68|mm[Hg]^mm[Hg]^UCUM|||||X|||20200508051804.8340+0530||||DFG~01^^Y71A57FFFE6188F3^EUI-64||unknow

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 14 '20 at 17:57

This particular HL7 ORU example is a more strict protocol within the HL7 format. It is defined by IHE, and the message type of this example is PCD (Patient Care Device) You can start searching for details of this message format here: https://wiki.ihe.net/index.php/Patient_Care_Device

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 25 '20 at 12:42

You'll need to consider things:

HL7 event type of the message, found in MSH.9
If you have the specs of HL7 v2, then you can check on what the segments are usually use and the hierarchy of it.
If you don't have the HL7 spec directly from HL7.org, you'll need to ask the client sending the HL7 message their own spec. Their spec will guide you on how they structured their message. What are repeating, required and optional fields.
HL7 is a loose standard, some organizations don't strictly implement directly what the HL7 spec has, instead they repurpose some of the segments and fields, so it's best to have the client's own HL7 spec. That means other sources of HL7 may have a different approach.

I usually use this link to check on the HL7 definitions: https://hl7-definition.caristix.com/v2/HL7v2.5.1

Based from my experience, OBX segments are repeating and are usually under the OBR segment as child nodes. OBX.2 is the index, which is odd in your message since I see index 4 is followed by index 17.

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 14 '20 at 19:46

So far after exploration i understood that those dotted numbers are not standard.Below is IHE documents. Probably it depends on the profile. which can be different at different point.

https://www.hl7.org/documentcenter/public/wg/healthcaredevices/N0262_WG7_RCH.1g.pdf

I marking it is as answer. I will change this if something better explanation comes.

Do we have standard for HL7 OBX-4 containment hierarchy

3 Answers3