Last year the HL7 Architecture Review Board instigated the development of an architectural approach and framework for the development and use of HL7 standards from a Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) perspective. This framework, referred to as the “Services Aware Enterprise Architecture Framework” (SAEAF),  borrows many of the ideas from the ISO RM-ODP standards. Deontik supports these developments, because we believe that HL7 standards need a clearer separation between enterprise, information and computational aspects of e-health systems. Based on many years of involvement and contribution to the RM-ODP, we believe that the RM-ODP provides valuable input to designing and implementing e-health systems - as they often resemble complex distributed systems, crossing organisational, jurisdictional and increasingly national boundaries.