Guide
HL7 for pathology in Australia, and where a REST API fits
Australian laboratories exchange orders and results using HL7 version 2 messages. This guide explains the standards in play and what a REST API changes for a healthtech.
By Benjamin Novakovic, CTO and Co-founderLinkedInPublished
HL7 v2 in Australian pathology
HL7 version 2 is a messaging standard used between health systems. In Australia, pathology and diagnostic imaging orders and results have been exchanged using HL7 v2.4, specified by the Australian Standard AS 4700.2.
AS 4700.2 has had several editions. Standards Australia lists the 2012 edition, covering HL7 v2.4 pathology and diagnostic imaging, and the Australian Digital Health Agency lists it on its standards register. HL7 Australia's localisation guide, Australian Diagnostics and Referral Messaging, states that it supersedes AS 4700.2-2012. Confirm which edition a given lab implements before you build.
Why a direct integration takes work
Even with a shared standard, each laboratory has its own local codes, units, referral requirements and message habits. Connecting to several labs usually means separate projects with separate quirks.
Where a REST API fits
A REST API sits above the messaging. A healthtech calls an endpoint to order and to fetch results, and something else deals with the lab connections.
This section describes Eirly Health, not the standard. Eirly Health ingests the labs' HL7 result messages and returns structured JSON, with one biomarker identity across labs and canonical values, so your team does not parse HL7. Webhooks are notifications, and you fetch the result with one authenticated call.
Eirly Health does not claim FHIR support, and this guide does not cover FHIR.
See the lab results API and the LOINC guide.
Sources
Facts about standards on this page come from these sources, checked 13 October 2026. Standards are revised, so confirm the current edition before you build.
- AS 4700.2-2012 on the Australian Digital Health Agency standards register. Edition and scope. The page could not be fetched automatically when checked, so its listing was confirmed through search results
- AS 4700.2-2012 at the Standards Australia store. Listed as the HL7 v2.4 pathology and diagnostic imaging part
- HL7 Australia: Australian Diagnostics and Referral Messaging. HL7 v2.4 localisation for pathology and radiology requests and reports, and its statement on superseding AS 4700.2-2012
Keep reading
- LOINC for lab results
What LOINC is, why lab results need normalising, and how it applies to Australian pathology.
- Pathology e-requesting in Australia
How electronic requests work between practice software and labs, and how Eirly Health differs.
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