HL7 PPG_PCG (Patient Pathway Message, Goal-Oriented) | Integration Soup HL7 Reference Guide

HL7 PPG_PCG Patient Pathway Message (Goal-Oriented)

A pathway update that organizes the care-plan detail around goals.

HL7 message structure PPG_PCG 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
PID	Patient Identification	Yes	No
PPG_PCG.PATIENT_VISIT	Patient Visit group	No	No
PV1	Patient Visit	Yes	No
PV2	Patient Visit - Additional Information	No	No
PPG_PCG.PATHWAY	Pathway group	Yes	Yes
PTH	Pathway	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
VAR	Variance	No	Yes
PPG_PCG.PATHWAY_ROLE	Pathway Role group	No	Yes
ROL	Role	Yes	No
VAR	Variance	No	Yes
PPG_PCG.GOAL	Goal group	No	Yes
GOL	Goal Detail	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
VAR	Variance	No	Yes
PPG_PCG.GOAL_ROLE	Goal Role group	No	Yes
ROL	Role	Yes	No
VAR	Variance	No	Yes
PPG_PCG.GOAL_OBSERVATION	Goal Observation group	No	Yes
OBX	Observation/Result	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
PPG_PCG.PROBLEM	Problem group	No	Yes
PRB	Problem Details	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
VAR	Variance	No	Yes
PPG_PCG.PROBLEM_ROLE	Problem Role group	No	Yes
ROL	Role	Yes	No
VAR	Variance	No	Yes
PPG_PCG.PROBLEM_OBSERVATION	Problem Observation group	No	Yes
OBX	Observation/Result	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
PPG_PCG.ORDER	Order group	No	Yes
ORC	Common Order	Yes	No
PPG_PCG.ORDER_DETAIL	Order Detail group	No	No
PPG_PCG.OBR_SUPPGRP	Obr Suppgrp group	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
VAR	Variance	No	Yes
PPG_PCG.ORDER_OBSERVATION	Order Observation group	No	Yes
OBX	Observation/Result	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
VAR	Variance	No	Yes

PPG_PCG sends a patient pathway add event, with the pathway as the top-level clinical planning object and goals as the main nested detail. This appears in patient-care integrations where a standardized pathway or plan of care is being opened for a patient and the receiver needs the goal-oriented pieces that belong inside it.

Think of it as, "this patient is now on this pathway, and here are the goals and supporting context we want you to carry with it."

A small PPG PCG example

MSH|^~\&|CAREPATH|CITYHOSP|REPOSITORY|CITYHOSP|20260723143000||PPG^PCG^PPG_PCG|PPG00001|P|2.5.1 PID|1||123456^^^CITYHOSP^MR||Rivera^Maya^^^^^L||19750519|F PV1|1|O|CLINIC^2^A^CITYHOSP||||12345^Nguyen^Anita PTH|AD|HFCARE^Heart failure care pathway^L|PTH-20260723-010|20260723143000|ACTIVE^Active^L ROL|1|AD|CM^Care manager^L|44556^Stone^Ari GOL|AD|20260723143000|DAILYWEIGHT^Daily weight monitoring^L|GOL-20260723-010|EOC-772|1|20260723143000|20260801000000 OBX|1|CE|GOALSTATUS^Goal status^L||ACTIVE^Active^L||||||F PRB|AD|20260723143000|HF^Heart failure^L|PRB-20260723-010|EOC-772

What workflow it represents

A care pathway has been added for the patient, and the sender is sharing the goal-oriented view of that pathway. Receivers might create a pathway record, open care-management work, populate goal tracking, or expose the pathway in a longitudinal care-plan view.

The pathway is the container. The goals inside it should remain identifiable so later messages can update, correct, complete, or remove them without rebuilding the whole pathway by hand.

How to read the structure

The message starts with MSH, optional SFT, required PID, and optional patient visit context through PV1 and PV2.

The required repeating PATHWAY group starts with PTH. PTH carries the action code, pathway ID, pathway instance ID, established date/time, and lifecycle status.

Within each pathway, optional NTE, VAR, and ROL add comments, variances, and pathway roles. The nested GOAL group starts with GOL and may carry role, observation, problem, and order context through ROL, OBX, PRB, and ORC.

Implementation traps

Do not flatten the pathway away unless both sides explicitly agree to that. If PTH is ignored, downstream users can lose the difference between a standalone goal and a goal that belongs to a formal pathway.

Keep pathway IDs and goal IDs separately. PTH-3 identifies the pathway instance; GOL-4 identifies a goal instance under or near that pathway.

Some local data labels for this family are terse, but HL7 terminology distinguishes PPG as the patient pathway goal-oriented message. Make that distinction in interface specs so PPG and PPP_PCB do not get swapped.

Reference notes

HL7 terminology identifies PPG as the patient pathway goal-oriented message. In v2.5.1 the PPG_PCG structure requires PID and one or more PTH-led PATHWAY groups, with nested GOL-led goal material and optional observations, problems, orders, roles, comments, and variances.