© 2003. All rights reserved
MML (Medical Markup Language) Version 3.0 was developed as a medical information exchange standard so that medical information documents described in MML could be exchanged via HL7 messages without any disagreement between senders and receivers, which means that both senders and receivers shall have the same context in communication. Version 3.0 also achieved seamless integration of two cases; when a medical information document is independently present as a persistent information object and when a medical information document is exchanged via HL7 messages.
The development of MML Version 3.0 had two main objectives as follows:
(1) To provide MML Version 3.0 that is based on the first ANSI-accredited standard in HL7 Version 3, the HL7 Version 3 Standard: Clinical Document Architecture Framework Release 1.0 (HL7 CDA) [11] with extended functions.
(2) While preserving the medical information description ability provided by the previous MML Version 2.3, to minimize the transition costs for existing MML Version 2.3 users to new MML Version 3.0.
With the newly developed MML Version 3.0, it became possible to carry medical information documents described in MML Version 3.0 via the messages of not only HL7 Version 3.0 but also HL7 Version 2. Since the HL7 CDA follows the HL7 Reference Information Model (RIM), the feature of the RIM, an effect to resolve inconsistency between the senders and receivers of messages, in other words, in order for both to have the same context in communication, was succeeded to the HL7 CDA and also to MML Version 3.0 that is based on the HL7 CDA.
The interoperability of the information between medical information documents on which legal obligation may be imposed and messages as a medium of communication between different systems is again another effect of the HL7 CDA and was also succeeded to MML Version 3.0.
In order to maintain upward compatibility with the HL7 CDA, the extensible markup method of the HL7 CDA (refer to HL7 CDA sections 3.2.2.6, 5.3.3, and 5.3.4) is used for reference in the development of MML Version 3.0. Based on this method, modules are re-defined and rules are created as follows:
(1) Redefinition of modules used in MML Version 2.3 for MML Version 3.0
(2) Integration rule of the “MML header” with the HL7 CDA Header
(3) Integration rule of the “MML content modules” with the HL7 CDA Body
(4) Restriction in the “MML header” and “MML content modules”
MML Version 3.0 is based on MML Specification Version 2.3 Type C, including the correction from Type C to Type B.
© 2003. All rights reserved