Opening an HL7 File

The HL7 file type is primarily associated with Mirth Connect.

HL7	File extension: HL7
	File type:	messaging file

What is an HL7 file

HL7 files mostly belong to Mirth Connect. HL7 files are text-based files that follow the Health Level Seven standard for exchanging clinical information between healthcare systems. They store messages with defined segments that hold details such as patient identification, lab results, and treatment orders.
These files are primarily used for clinical messaging and health information exchange. They are parsed by integration engines like Mirth Connect and processed by systems such as HNA500UI.
Key usage details include:

Interoperability: HL7 files use structured segments (e.g., MSH, PID) that allow different software systems to understand transmitted clinical data.

Data Exchange: They carry text-based health records and messages that follow strict guidelines from the health information exchange standard.

Standard Compliance: They conform to the HL7 specifications as detailed on the official HL7 website.

Document Handling: Some instances include attachments like PDF medical documents that may be read with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

FilExt.com note: Because these files are plain text, you can open them with any text editor, though specialized HL7 viewers will better parse the segmented data. For further analysis and industry insights, refer to resources like NextGen.

How can I open an HL7 file?

You need a suitable software like Mirth Connect to open an HL7 file. Without proper software you will receive a Windows message "How do you want to open this file?" or "Windows cannot open this file" or a similar Mac/iPhone/Android alert. If you cannot open your HL7 file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a HL7 file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online HL7 Text Viewer

Choose your .hl7 file to view

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

✈

Read our privacy guarantee in Filext’s terms and privacy policy

Please allow ads on our site

This helps us keep our servers running. Then re-upload your file to view it.

Click here to see how to disable the ad blocker for filext.com

How to extract texts from HL7 files or capture a screenshot to PDF, JPG, DOCX, TXT, ...

1. To do so, click the "Choose your .hl7 file to view" button above.
2. Your HL7 file will then be displayed in the browser.
3. Now click on "Save as..." at the top of the page.
4. Then choose the file format (e.g. JPG, PDF, DOCX, TXT, ...) you want.
5. Download the converted file.

HL7 file format details:

The file format determines how the data is stored in the file. A file format is determined by the file extension and signature, so JPEG images have the extension .jpg and the first bytes in the file are ÿØÿ. Frequently, however, one file extension is used by different programs for different file formats, and one file format for different file extensions. Exact knowledge of the format is therefore important in order to solve problems occurring in files. Below is our analysis of the HL7 files:

The HL7 file type is a very commonly used file extension and mainly uses a special format. The file formats most commonly found in HL7 files are:

• 80% of all HL7 files are associated with Health Level-7 data. The content consists of readable text data, which can be read using a text editor. The files are 440 bytes to 13 KB in size, with a median of 1 KB. The file type was developed only in the last few years. Such files sometimes refer to report, sample, order, patient, cmpsped, message, results and data.
• 5% of all HL7 files have the same signature FHS|. These files are plain text, which means they can be viewed with any text editor such as Windows Editor, Nano for Linux, and TextEdit for macOS. The files are 1 KB to 190 KB in size, with a median of 33 KB. The keywords 114222 are typical for these files. Such files sometimes refer to amazon and stslab.

All other HL7 files (15%) have different formats, such as PDF and MSH. Tagged as resultmeshbio, demo, cube, appointment, result, copie or trpa. Drag & drop your file here to see the file format and a preview of your HL7 file!