Open HL7 files in your browser
The pipe-delimited messages hospitals, labs and EHRs send each other, from admissions to lab results. Open a file of them right here, the results as a table and each field by its name, with no interface engine. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your messages open as a chart of what they say, the results with their units, ranges and flags, and in Tree each segment's fields by name.
- Results • With their units, ranges and flags
- Every message • Its segments and fields by name
- Patient data hidden until you show it
- Export • Save as PDF, or the tables as CSV
About HL7
HL7 International's version 2 has carried messages between hospital systems since 1990, and most hospitals still run on it: an ADT for each admission, discharge and transfer, an ORM for each order, an ORU for each result and a VXU for each vaccine sent to a registry. Interface engines log them, and labs and EHRs hand them over as .hl7 files.
A message is segments, a line each ending in a carriage return: MSH names the sender, the type and the version, then PID the patient, PV1 the visit, OBR an order, OBX each result, AL1 an allergy and DG1 a diagnosis. Fields are split by |, components by ^, repetitions by ~ and subcomponents by &, as MSH's first characters say, and a file holds many, sometimes wrapped in MLLP's framing bytes.
Filepeek reads every message in your browser into a chart: results with their units, ranges and flags, allergies, problems, vaccines and visits, and a PDF a result carries as a file of its own. Tree shows each message's segments with each field by its name, like PID-5 Patient Name, the patient's details stay hidden on the record until Show patient data, and Export saves the chart as a PDF or its tables as CSV.
HL7 version 2 messages
.hl7
Format
- MIME type
- x-application/hl7-v2+er7
- Made by
- HL7 International
- Released
- 1990
Inside the file
- Kept as
- Text, a segment a line
- Separators
- | ^ ~ and &, as MSH sets them
- Messages
- ADT, ORM, ORU, VXU and more
- Versions
- 2.1 to 2.9
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens HL7 v2 files in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, many messages to a file, with or without MLLP's framing. On their own, browsers download them.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open HL7
- WindowsHL7 Soup and 7Edit • Notepad shows its text
- MacTextEdit shows its text
- iPhone and iPadNo app built in reads it
- AndroidNo app built in reads it
Questions
What do the |, ^ and ~ mean?
They split a message's fields, components and repetitions, so PID|1||42^^^H^MR is the patient's record number 42 from H. MSH, the first segment, sets the characters a file uses, and \F\ or \S\ in a value stands for one of them. Filepeek splits them as the message says and names each field.
Can I see a lab's results as a table?
Yes. Each ORU's results show under their order with their value, units, range and flag, and Export saves them as CSV.
Why are there odd characters around each message?
They're MLLP's framing bytes, a vertical tab before each message and a file separator after it, which systems send over the network and some logs keep. Filepeek reads the messages between them.
Is the patient's data uploaded?
No. The messages are read in your browser and stay on your device. The patient's name, birthday, address and IDs stay hidden on the record until you choose Show patient data.