1.1 This specification defines an electronic representation that includes the varying information required for broad exchange in health care both today and in the future. eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a convergence of data processing, communication, and publishing technology. XML is a platform, vendor, and application independent technology for describing document content and structure in tags or elements. The names of the tags and the rules for using them are contained in the Document Type Definition (DTD). The DTD describes the structure of the document and defines the names of tags it contains. Additionally the DTD declares the order in which the tags occur and how often the tags can appear; that is, the DTD defines the hierarchy of the tags. A DTD for a prescription might contain structural elements for the medication prescribed medication>, the dosage dosage>, the form form>, the quantity quantity>, and so forth. This specification is in the form of a set of standard XML DTDs that match the electronic document requirements in the health care industry.

1.2 This specification refers to and makes use of recommendations from the World Wide Web consortium, the W3C (http://www.w3.org).

1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory requirements prior to use.