HL7 ADT_A61 Change Consulting Doctor

The consulting physician list changed for an active patient visit.
HL7 message structure ADT_A61 groups and segments from HL7 v2.5.1 Hide structure

These are the generated groups and segments for the version selected at the top of the page. The article explains the workflow, and this panel follows the chosen HL7 version.

Message Structure

SegmentNameRequiredRepeatable
MSH
 Message Header Yes No
SFT
 Software Segment No Yes
EVN
 Event Type Yes No
PID
 Patient Identification Yes No
PD1
 Patient Additional Demographic No No
PV1
 Patient Visit Yes No
ROL
 Role No Yes
PV2
 Patient Visit - Additional Information No No

ADT_A61 is sent when the consulting doctor or consulting doctor list changes for a patient. It is a provider participation event, usually tied to the active visit.

Receivers use it for specialist worklists, billing attribution, notifications, consult tracking, and clinical-team displays. The message is small, but the downstream consequences can be very visible to clinicians.

A small A61 example

MSH|^~\&|ADT|CITYHOSP|EHR|CITYHOSP|20260715172000||ADT^A61^ADT_A61|ADT610001|P|2.5.1 EVN|A61|20260715171900||||20260715171500 PID|1||123456^^^CITYHOSP^MR||Smith^Jane^Anne^^Ms^^L||19800314|F PV1|1|I|WARD1^101^1^CITYHOSP^^BED||||12345^Ng^Grace||24680^Chen^Liam||||||||||VN000345^^^CITYHOSP^VN ROL|1|UP|CON^Consulting Doctor|24680^Chen^Liam

What systems do with it

The sender is usually the PAS/EHR. Receivers update consulting-provider attribution for the visit and may start, stop, or re-route specialist tasks from the event time onward.

If a consultant is removed rather than added, the local profile needs a clear action-code or role-end-date convention. Otherwise one system may see a current list while another keeps accumulating historical consultants.

How to read the structure

The key visit field is PV1-9, Consulting Doctor. The message also includes MSH, EVN, PID, optional PD1, required PV1, optional ROL, and optional PV2.

Implementation traps

Do not bury patient demographic changes in A61. Send or expect A08 separately when demographics changed at the same time. Also confirm whether PV1-9 is a full replacement list or a delta in your local profile; repeated provider fields are a classic place for quiet drift.

Reference notes

The HL7 v2+ ADT_A61 page describes A61 as a change in consulting physician(s), with the new consulting doctor(s) in PV1-9 and event timing in EVN-6 when available.