HL7 MFR_M06 (Clinical Study Phases and Schedules Response) | Integration Soup HL7 Reference Guide

HL7 MFR_M06 Clinical Study with Phases and Schedules Response

The legacy query response for study definitions that include phases and scheduled time points.

HL7 message structure MFR_M06 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

Segment	Name	Required	Repeatable
MSH	Message Header	Yes	No
SFT	Software Segment	No	Yes
MSA	Message Acknowledgment	Yes	No
ERR	Error	No	Yes
QAK	Query Acknowledgment	No	No
QRD	Original-Style Query Definition	Yes	No
QRF	Original style query filter	No	No
MFI	Master File Identification	Yes	No
MFR_M06.MF_QUERY	Mf Query group	Yes	Yes
MFE	Master File Entry	Yes	No
CM0	Clinical Study Master	Yes	No
CM1	Clinical Study Phase Master	No	Yes
CM2	Clinical Study Schedule Master	No	Yes
DSC	Continuation Pointer	No	No

MFR_M06 returns clinical study master records for studies that have phases and schedules. It is the query-response companion to MFN_M06.

This message is reference-data plumbing, not patient enrollment. It helps a receiver ask, "what is the study definition and schedule I should know about?" before patient-specific research workflows depend on that setup.

A small MFR M06 example

MSH|^~\&|RESEARCH|CITYHOSP|EHR|CITYHOSP|20260722125000||MFR^M06^MFR_M06|MFR060001|P|2.5.1 MSA|AA|MFQ060001 QAK|Q060001|OK|MFQ^Master file query^HL70471|1|1|0 QRD|20260722124900|R|I|Q060001|||1^RD|EHR^Study query|MFQ^Master file query^HL7|STUDY-ACME-01^CITYHOSP|R MFI|CMA^Clinical study with phases and schedules^HL70175|RESEARCH^CITYHOSP|UPD|20260722102000|20260722110000|AL MFE|MAD|MFQ060001|20260722110000|STUDY-ACME-01^CITYHOSP|EI CM0|1|STUDY-ACME-01^CITYHOSP|CARD-OBS-01^CITYHOSP|Cardiology Observation Study|12345^Kaur^Priya^^^^^^CITYHOSP|20260701 CM1|1|SCREEN^Screening^L|Screening phase CM2|1|BASELINE^Baseline visit^L|Baseline assessment and consent CM1|2|FOLLOWUP^Follow-up^L|Follow-up phase CM2|2|WEEK4^Week 4 visit^L|Week 4 evaluation

What workflow it represents

A consuming system queries for a study definition. The owner responds with the study, phase records, and scheduled time points that the receiver should use for validation, display, or downstream research workflows.

This can be useful when a receiver only needs certain studies, or when it has to refresh a study definition after a local cache miss.

How to read the structure

The response envelope acknowledges and echoes the query with MSA, optional ERR, optional QAK, required QRD, and optional QRF.

MFI identifies the clinical study master file. Each MF_QUERY group returns MFE, required CM0, optional repeating CM1 phase records, and optional repeating CM2 schedule records. DSC supports multi-page responses.

Implementation traps

Do not flatten phases away if they matter to protocol behavior. A receiver that stores only visit labels may not be able to apply amendments cleanly.

Also define how a response should refresh existing data. Does the receiver replace the study schedule with what came back, or merge only the returned rows? That rule should be explicit.

If you use continuation, keep all pages under the same query context. Mixing pages from different study queries can corrupt a local study cache very quietly.

Reference notes

HL7 master-file query material defines MFR as the response to an MFQ query for master-file records. MFR_M06 returns clinical study records with CM0 plus phase and schedule details in CM1 and CM2.