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STANAG 2231
Military health services and defence organisations exchanging patient data under a NATO nation's tasking or contract
STANAG 2231 is NATO's agreement committing member nations to implement AMedP-5.1, the patient data exchange format for common core information; it binds nations, not suppliers, directly.
STANAG 2231 is a NATO Standardization Agreement, currently Edition 1, promulgated 2 April 2014. It is not a technical specification. It is the agreement by which NATO nations commit to implement AMedP-5.1, Edition A, the Allied Medical Publication that sets out the patient data exchange format for common core information. The interoperability requirement behind it is stated plainly: "Technical aspects, business practices, and operational requirements needed for interoperability of national Electronic Medical Record Systems, and for the ability to transfer data between nations when used," plus a separate requirement "to provide medical reports in electronic format from nations to NATO Command Structures, which will be enhanced by this agreement." Read on its own, STANAG 2231 requires almost nothing of a supplier or a health service directly. Its obligations run to nations, and it reaches a military health organisation only once a nation has implemented it and a specific tasking or contract invokes the format it commits to.
STANAG 2231 is explicit that it binds nations rather than organisations. Its letter of promulgation describes the enclosed agreement as one "which has been ratified by member nations, as reflected in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD), is promulgated herewith." Under "Agreement," participating nations agree to implement AMedP-5.1, Edition A - a national commitment made by ratification, not a duty a supplier or a hospital signs up to by reading this document. Partner nations are separately "invited to adopt this STANAG." Ratification and implementation are separate steps in how a STANAG works generally, and a nation can ratify one with reservations, though this document names none of its own. So "is STANAG 2231 mandatory" has no single answer: it depends on whether a given nation has ratified and implemented it, and, for a health service organisation, on whether a specific tasking or contract then invokes the format that implementation puts in place.
The stated aim is to respond to an interoperability requirement covering national Electronic Medical Record Systems and the transfer of patient data between nations, plus "a requirement to provide medical reports in electronic format from nations to NATO Command Structures, which will be enhanced by this agreement." The STANAG states it "is effective upon receipt and ready to be used by the implementing nations and NATO bodies" - a NATO-wide mechanism, not a national or civil one. None of this is written as a duty on a supplier; it is a duty on the nation, and on the national Electronic Medical Record Systems and NATO Command Structures that actually exchange the data.
A reader who only has STANAG 2231 in hand does not yet have the data exchange format it points to. The actual substance - what "common core information" is and how it is structured for exchange - sits in AMedP-5.1, Edition A. Other related documents named alongside it are STANAG 5524 (which covers ADatP-34, NATO Interoperability Standards and Profiles), STANAG 2228 (which covers AJP-4.10, Allied Joint Doctrine for Medical Support), STANAG 2230 (which covers AJP-4.6, Multinational Joint Logistics Centre Doctrine), STANAG 2034 (NATO Standard Procedures for Mutual Logistic Assistance), STANAG 2061 (Procedures for Disposition of Allied Patients by Medical Installations), STANAG 2132 (which covers AMedP-8.1, on documentation for initial medical treatment and evacuation), and STANAG 2348 (which covers AMedP-8.2, on basic military hospital clinical records).
National decisions on ratification and implementation are provided to the NSA and recorded in the NSDD. Nations are invited to report their effective implementation using the form in Annex H to AAP-03(J), and partner nations their adoption using Annex G to AAP-03(J). The STANAG itself "is to be reviewed at least once every three years," with the result recorded in the NSDD - a check on whether the agreement is still current, not an audit of any organisation. Nations and NATO bodies may propose changes at any time through a standardization proposal to the tasking authority.
STANAG 2231 names no data field, code list or message structure of its own - that detail sits entirely in AMedP-5.1. It also names no assessment or certification scheme: the only stated check is that the STANAG itself is reviewed periodically, not that an organisation or a national Electronic Medical Record System is certified.
STANAG 2231 itself gives a health services organisation nothing to implement in software: it is an agreement between nations, and the actual data exchange format sits in AMedP-5.1. Where ComplyTrain fits is the paperwork trail behind whatever role a specific tasking or contract actually assigns once that format is in use: documented procedures for how patient data is prepared and exchanged, training records showing the people handling that exchange know the procedure and their part in it, and the audit trail an assessor or a customer's quality representative would ask for when a data exchange commitment is questioned.
ComplyTrain does not build or operate an Electronic Medical Record System, define the data exchange format itself, or determine which format a specific tasking requires - that is set by the contract, the customer's quality clause and AMedP-5.1, not by this page. Our standards explorer shows what else sits alongside STANAG 2231 - if you are weighing up what a tasking or tender actually requires, we're glad to talk it through.
Tell us how you need to work with STANAG 2231 and what you need from it. We will come back to you about what ComplyTrain can do.
Thank you. Your list is on its way to your inbox, and we will come back to you on what working with these standards in ComplyTrain involves, usually within one business day.
Not on its own. A STANAG binds a nation once that nation has ratified and implemented it, and it reaches a health services organisation only when a specific tasking or contract invokes the patient data exchange format that implementation puts in place. Whether it applies to a given programme is a question for the contract, not for this page.
STANAG 2231 is the cover agreement: it commits nations to implement AMedP-5.1 but contains no data exchange content itself. AMedP-5.1, Edition A is the Allied Medical Publication that actually sets out the patient data exchange format for common core information.
No. STANAG 2231 describes no certification or accreditation scheme. Its only stated check is a periodic review of the agreement's own currency, at least once every three years. NATO does not certify organisations, or Electronic Medical Record Systems, against a STANAG.
Edition 1, promulgated 2 April 2014. The letter of promulgation states this STANAG does not supersede any earlier document.
Partner nations are separately "invited to adopt this STANAG" and to report their adoption using a separate annex, but adoption for a partner nation is voluntary rather than a ratification obligation.
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