Many people know of Health Level 7 (HL7) as an organization that creates health care messaging standards. Health Level 7 is also developing standards for the representation of clinical documents (such as discharge summaries and progress notes). These document standards make up the HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA). The HL7 CDA Framework, release 1.0, became an ANSI-approved HL7 standard in November 2000. This article presents the approach and objectives of the CDA, along with a technical overview of the standard. The CDA is a document markup standard that specifies the structure and semantics of clinical documents. A CDA document is a defined and complete information object that can include text, images, sounds, and other multimedia content. The document can be sent inside an HL7 message and can exist independently, outside a transferring message. The first release of the standard has attempted to fill an important gap by addressing common and largely narrative clinical notes. It deliberately leaves out certain advanced and complex semantics, both to foster broad implementation and to give time for these complex semantics to be fleshed out within HL7. Being a part of the emerging HL7 version 3 family of standards, the CDA derives its semantic content from the shared HL7 Reference Information Model and is implemented in Extensible Markup Language. The HL7 mission is to develop standards that enable semantic interoperability across all platforms. The HL7 version 3 family of standards, including the CDA, are moving us closer to the realization of this vision.

Skateboarding, roller-skating, and scooter-riding accidents result in a large proportion of pediatric fractures. An open fracture, especially of the forearm, was more likely to be caused by skateboarding than by other mechanisms of injury. Use of wrist and forearm protective equipment should be considered in all children who ride a skateboard.

Loosely structured documents can capture more relevant information about medical events than is possible using today’s popular databases. In order to realize the full potential of this increased information content, techniques will be required that go beyond the static mapping of stored data into a single, rigid data model. Through intelligent processing, loosely structured documents can become a rich source of detailed data about actual events that can support the wide variety of applications needed to run a health-care organization, document medical care or conduct research. Abstraction and indirection are the means by which dynamic data models and intelligent processing are introduced into database systems. A system designed around loosely structured documents can evolve gracefully while preserving the integrity of the stored data. The ability to identify and locate the information contained within documents offers new opportunities to exchange data that can replace more rigid standards of data interchange.