HL7 OMD_O03 (Diet Order) | Integration Soup HL7 Reference Guide

HL7 OMD_O03 Diet Order

The order message for diets, supplements, preferences, and tray instructions.

HL7 message structure OMD_O03 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
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
OMD_O03.PATIENT	Patient group	No	No
PID	Patient Identification	Yes	No
PD1	Patient Additional Demographic	No	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
OMD_O03.PATIENT_VISIT	Patient Visit group	No	No
PV1	Patient Visit	Yes	No
PV2	Patient Visit - Additional Information	No	No
OMD_O03.INSURANCE	Insurance group	No	Yes
IN1	Insurance	Yes	No
IN2	Insurance Additional Information	No	No
IN3	Insurance Additional Information, Certification	No	No
GT1	Guarantor	No	No
AL1	Patient Allergy Information	No	Yes
OMD_O03.ORDER_DIET	Order Diet group	Yes	Yes
ORC	Common Order	Yes	No
OMD_O03.TIMING_DIET	Timing Diet group	No	Yes
TQ1	Timing/Quantity	Yes	No
TQ2	Timing/Quantity Relationship	No	Yes
OMD_O03.DIET	Diet group	No	No
ODS	Dietary Orders, Supplements, and Preferences	Yes	Yes
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
OMD_O03.OBSERVATION	Observation group	No	Yes
OBX	Observation/Result	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
OMD_O03.ORDER_TRAY	Order Tray group	No	Yes
ORC	Common Order	Yes	No
OMD_O03.TIMING_TRAY	Timing Tray group	No	Yes
TQ1	Timing/Quantity	Yes	No
TQ2	Timing/Quantity Relationship	No	Yes
ODT	Diet Tray Instructions	Yes	Yes
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes

OMD_O03 is the diet order message. It is used when a clinical or dietary system tells food services what a patient should receive, what should be avoided, which supplements apply, and how trays should be handled. It is still an order workflow, but the details are food-service details rather than lab tests or radiology exams.

The important difference from a generic ORM_O01 is that OMD has dedicated diet and tray groups. ORC controls the order. ODS carries diet, supplement, and preference codes. ODT carries tray instructions.

A small OMD O03 example

MSH|^~\&|EHR|CITYHOSP|DIETARY|CITYHOSP|20260717120000||OMD^O03^OMD_O03|OMD030001|P|2.5.1 PID|1||123456^^^CITYHOSP^MR||Smith^Jane^Anne^^Ms^^L||19800314|F PV1|1|I|WARD3^312^A^CITYHOSP ORC|NW|DIET1001^EHR||DIETGRP1^EHR|||||20260717120000|||12345^Careful^Clara TQ1|1||||||20260717123000 ODS|D|DINNER^Dinner^L|DM2LOWNA^Diabetic low sodium^L|No added sugar desserts ODS|S|DINNER^Dinner^L|SKIMMLK^Skim milk snack^L|Evening snack ORC|NW|TRAY1001^EHR||DIETGRP1^EHR ODT|WARD^Ward tray^L|DINNER^Dinner^L|Deliver to nursing station

What workflow it represents

The sender is usually an EHR, order entry system, nursing system, or diet office. The receiver is usually a dietary system, food-service application, or integration engine feeding tray production. The receiver uses the order control and timing to decide what starts, stops, changes, or continues.

A diet order can affect every meal until it is replaced. That makes changes important: when the patient's diet changes from regular to low sodium, the new message should carry the complete active diet picture the receiver needs, not just a tiny delta that only makes sense to the sender.

How to read the structure

MSH identifies the message. The optional patient group carries PID, PV1, insurance, guarantor, and allergy context. The required ORDER_DIET group starts with ORC and may include TQ1, TQ2, ODS, notes, and supporting OBX observations.

The optional ORDER_TRAY group has its own ORC and timing, then ODT for delivery or tray-handling instructions. Keep tray logistics separate from the diet code itself; a tray delivery note should not silently change what the patient is allowed to eat.

Implementation traps

The common trap is sending a single added diet code and assuming the receiving system will preserve all prior diet details. Many dietary systems interpret the current message as the current order state. If a supplement or preference still applies, send it again when the profile requires a full replacement picture.

Another trap is hiding allergy, texture, fluid, or NPO logic in comments. If the receiver needs to act on it, code it in ODS or another profiled field rather than relying on free text.

Reference notes

The HL7 v2+ OMD_O03 page describes dietary orders with patient context, diet order groups, tray order groups, ODS, ODT, and timing. Its notes emphasize that diet codes, supplements, and preferences together define what the patient may receive.