Medical EDI message specification and interchange formats.

Assessment of the current medical edi environment learns that "old" interchange formats are being used to represent information of highly complex and quickly evolving nature. Whenever the domain requirements are translated into acceptable messages according to these interchange format specifications, system developers use the latest technologies to implement the messages towards the distorted view imposed by the interchange format constraints. This situation, combined with the fact of coexistence of several interchange formats and the urgent need for more standardised message types, led to the specification of a new meta-syntax, supporting easy message definition and allowing the data-driven conversion between multiple interchange formats. As such, and supported by the development of interchange format independent message descriptions, it may become a tool to support the medical edi needs of the future.