Messages

A message is a unit of data transferred between connection points. Each message has a message type that defines its purpose. For example, the ADT message type is used to transmit portions of a patient's ADT data. It is transmitted from one connection point, the data source, to another, the data sink.

A message consists of a group of segments in a defined sequence. A three-character segment code contained within each message identifies the segment's type.

New segments can be optionally added at the top or at the end of the message.