1. A messaging system for routing clinical messages, said messaging system comprising: an event handler comprising: a memory with executable instructions stored thereon; and a processor configured to access said memory to execute said instructions and to: receive one or more inbound messages, including one or more worklist items, from one or more event sources; store the worklist items in an event database; and, generate and communicate outbound messages for one or more worklist items in the event database that need to be acted upon, as determined by one or more rules; and a standardized protocol to represent the inbound messages and the outbound messages; wherein the event handler verifies and/or modifies the worklist items of the inbound messages using one or more rules, wherein the rules are based on one or more of hospital policies, target settings, properties of the inbound messages, on-call status, worklists, and workflows.