HL7 Australia will be bringing together its global collective of standard bearers in February 2020. This next international working group meeting of experts to be held outside North America will be in Sydney.

Congratulations to HL7 Australia and the HL7 Australia Board Members, including Vitro Software’s Executive Director, Berne Gibbons, who played a big part in winning the successful bid which was supported by the Australian Digital Health Agency. The meeting will see more than 1000 members of the network converge on the harbour city, working to solve one of healthcare’s great challenges – the exchange of health data.

It is the culmination of a series of successes for the influential Australian arm of the global not-for-profit.

No more than one HL7 meeting is held outside North America each year. The last time the organisation headed to Australia was in 2011.

HL7 International is supported by more than 1600 members from over 50 countries, including more than 500 corporate members representing healthcare providers, government stakeholders, payers, pharmaceutical companies, vendors and consulting firms.

HL7 Australia is one of the seven founding affiliates of HL7 International and is a powerhouse within the global organisation.

Earlier this year HL7 Australia – which is the custodian of the HL7 and FHIR standards in Australia – completed a rigorous consultative process to transition to a company limited by guarantee.

HL7 Australia’s membership growth has seen large scale vendors including Oracle, InterSystems, DXC Technology and MuleSoft join the community. It also has 15 benefactor members, including the Australia Digital Health Agency, Queensland Health and NSW Health.

The organisation’s efforts towards healthcare interoperability also include its Argonaut project, which is localising the work of the US Argonaut project with the involvement of the international project manager for FHIR, Australian Grahame Grieve, and stakeholders such as Cerner.