This part of ISO 21549 is applicable to situations in which such data are recorded on or transported by patient
healthcards compliant with the physical dimensions of ID-1 cards defined by ISO 7810.
This part of ISO 21549 specifies the basic structure of the data contained within the medication data object,
but does not specify or mandate particular data-sets for storage on devices.
The purpose of this part of ISO 21549 is for cards to provide information to other health professionals and to
the patient or to their non-professional care giver.
It may also be used to carry a new prescription from the prescriber to the dispenser/pharmacy in the design of
its sets.
Medication data includes the following four components:
-- medication notes: the list of all medication for a patient;
-- medication prescriptions: to carry a new prescription from the prescriber to the dispenser/pharmacy;
-- medication dispensed: the records of medications bought by the patient;
-- medication references: pointers to other systems that contain information that makes up a medication
prescription and the authority to dispense.
In order to facilitate interoperability, whenever an application is built for use in the healthcare domain in
compliance with this part of ISO 21549, data items required for that application shall be drawn from the list of
objects (some of which are extensible) as provided in Clauses 6 to 8. These shall then be used in conjunction
with other data defined in other parts of this part of ISO 21549. The detailed functions and mechanisms of the
following services are not within the scope of this part of ISO 21549 (although its structures can accommodate
suitable data objects elsewhere specified):
-- the encoding of free text data;
security functions and related services that are likely to be specified by users for data cards depending on
their specific application, e.g.: confidentiality protection, data integrity protection and authentication of
persons and devices related to these functions;
-- access control services that may depend on active use of some data card classes such as
microprocessor cards;
the initialization and issuing process (which begins the operating lifetime of an individual data card, and
by which the data card is prepared for the data to be subsequently communicated to it according to this
part of ISO 21549).
The following topics are therefore beyond the scope of this part of ISO 21549:
-- physical or logical solutions for the practical functioning of particular types of data card;
-- how the message is processed further"downstream" of the interface between two systems;
-- the form which data take for use outside the data card, or the way in which such data are visibly
represented on the data card or elsewhere.
It should be noted that not only the definition of "medicinal products" differs from country to country, but also
the same name may relate to entirely different products in some countries. Therefore, special attention should
be made for the safety of patient, when the card is used across borders
As a matter of course, exchange of prescription across borders must follow all laws, instructions, rules, terms
and treaties between the said two countries.