Medical Markup Language(MML) is a standard for the exchange of medical data among different medical institutions. It was developed in Japan in 1995. Since version 2.21, MML has used extensible Markup Language(XML) as a meta-language. The latest version, 3.0, conforms to HL7 Clinical Document Architecture(CDA) and contains 14 modules and 36 data definition tables. In china, a standard which structures entire medical records in XML does not yet exist. Taking advantage of MML's flexibility, we created a localized Chinese version based on MML 3.0. Parts of the original specifications have been enhanced; these include a newly developed health insurance information module and 12 additional or redefined data definition tables. The Chinese version takes local needs into account and now makes it possible to exchange medical data among Chinese medical institutions.

Medical Markup Language(MML),as a set of standards,has been developed over the last 8 years to allow the exchange of medical data between different medical information providers.MML version 2.21 used XML as a meta-language and was announced in 1999.In 2001,MML was updated to version 2.3 which contained twelve modules.The latest version-version 3.0-is based on the HL7 Clinical Document Architecture(CDA).During the development of this new version,the structure of MML version 2.3 was analyzed,sub-divided into several categories,and redefined so the information defined in MML could be described in HL7 CDA Level One.As a result of this development,it has become possible to exchange MML version 3.0 medical documents via HL7 messages.Currently,a localized Chinese version of MML is being created for use among medical facilities in China,some tables will be added,and the health insurance information module will be remade.