Report from the Treasurer
John Hatem, MBA, MSc, FHL7
Treasurer
In 2024, HL7 International staff successfully produced both in-person and virtual meetings.
The organization advanced its personnel, processes and technology by implementing enhanced financial reporting for the Executive Leadership Team and the HL7 Board. Staff also introduced improved financial and operational workflows and fully deployed a new accounting system, strengthening operational efficiency and enhancing reporting capabilities for both managers and executives.
Meetings
In 2024, HL7 held successful FHIR connectathons and working group meetings (WGMs) in January, May, and September.
Attendance at all WGMs was excellent (389, 592, 749, respectively). The FHIR Connectathons (580, 358, 470, respectively) numbers increased from the previous year (318, 349, and 339, respectively).
Figure 1. Attendance at WGM, FHIR Connectathons, and FHIR DevDays 2020-2024
The number of attendees at the 2024 FHIR DevDays was 354, which was a significant decrease by 188 from the 2023 Dev Days attendance. The corresponding net revenue to HL7 in 2024 from Dev Days is lower (50k in 2023 [held in the Netherlands], respectively) but this was because of how income is recognized by HL7 when the event is held in Europe.
Figure 1 provides a graphic view of attendance from 2020 to 2024. In 2024 one WGM was virtual and two of the WGMs were in-person and the connectathons followed the same pattern.
Education
As compared to 2023, overall educational program revenue during 2024 was $1.419M, reflecting an increase of $159k, or 12.7%. Revenue from webinars decreased by $76k and certification testing revenue increased by $227k. Revenue from distance learning courses was $915k, reflecting an increase of $8.7k, or 1.0%, as compared to 2023. Figure 2 shows the education programming revenue trend from 2020 to 2024. It is early to jump to a firm conclusion, but distance learning remains higher than pre-pandemic levels and webinars and certification testing is stable compared to pre-pandemic levels. HL7 will continue to monitor educational revenue trends.
Figure 2. Net revenue from education, webinars, training, certification testing, and distance learning
Membership
As compared to 2023, the total number of HL7 voting members in 2024 declined by 240, a 16.1% decrease.
The decrease is due to the significant drop of voting members from organizations, 261, or 21.7 %. In addition, the total membership revenues decreased by $741k, or 20.6%. This decrease is concerning and the majority of the membership loss is in organizational membership dues. The reasons for the organizational revenue decrease in 2024 is related to organizational mergers, and separately, loss of long time HL7 key members in organizations whose organizations decided to not renew. Figure 3 features the changes in the number of memberships from 2020 through 2024.
Figure 3. HL7 membership 2020-2024
The Organization
HL7’s net income in 2024 reflected a net income loss of $ 0.985M as HL7 continued to invest in organizational changes related to people, processes, and technology.
Figure 4 depicts the pattern of expenses, revenue, and net income over the past five years. Our current financial status continues to allow HL7 to enhance our leadership capabilities in health information technology standards development and implementation. Excluding funds related to FHIR accelerators and governmental grants, Figure 5, below, shows current HL7 reserves at 8.5 months. Our ability to rely on reserves allows HL7 to take steps to continue to implement our strategic vision and invest in new infrastructure and staff to help move the process forward. As HL7 invests in the future of the organization, we also maintain a stable financial reserve as we develop opportunities for new revenue streams.
Figure 4. HL7 financials over the past five years, showing revenues, expenses, and net income.
Figure 5. HL7 reserves shown in months of operating expenses available
For more detail about 2024, please read the full reports from our HL7 Divisions.
