HL7 RPA_I08 (Treatment Authorization Response) | Integration Soup HL7 Reference Guide

HL7 RPA_I08 Treatment Authorization Response

The payer or authorization answer to an RQA_I08 request.

HL7 message structure RPA_I08 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
RF1	Referral Information	No	No
RPA_I08.AUTHORIZATION	Authorization group	No	No
AUT	Authorization Information	Yes	No
CTD	Contact Data	No	No
RPA_I08.PROVIDER	Provider group	Yes	Yes
PRD	Provider Data	Yes	No
CTD	Contact Data	No	Yes
PID	Patient Identification	Yes	No
NK1	Next of Kin / Associated Parties	No	Yes
GT1	Guarantor	No	Yes
RPA_I08.INSURANCE	Insurance group	No	Yes
IN1	Insurance	Yes	No
IN2	Insurance Additional Information	No	No
IN3	Insurance Additional Information, Certification	No	No
ACC	Accident	No	No
DG1	Diagnosis	No	Yes
DRG	Diagnosis Related Group	No	Yes
AL1	Patient Allergy Information	No	Yes
RPA_I08.PROCEDURE	Procedure group	Yes	Yes
PR1	Procedures	Yes	No
RPA_I08.AUTCTD_SUPPGRP2	Autctd Suppgrp2 group	No	No
AUT	Authorization Information	Yes	No
CTD	Contact Data	No	No
RPA_I08.OBSERVATION	Observation group	No	Yes
OBR	Observation Request	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
RPA_I08.RESULTS	Results group	No	Yes
OBX	Observation/Result	Yes	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes
RPA_I08.VISIT	Visit group	No	No
PV1	Patient Visit	Yes	No
PV2	Patient Visit - Additional Information	No	No
NTE	Notes and Comments	No	Yes

RPA_I08 is the response to RQA_I08. It returns the authorization decision and supporting details for the requested service, treatment, referral, or procedure.

In production, the important part is not merely that the message was accepted. The consumer needs to know whether authorization is approved, denied, pending, modified, or incomplete, and which authorization identifier should be stored for scheduling and billing.

A small RPA I08 example

MSH|^~\&|PAYERHUB|CITYCARE|REFERRAL|CITYCLINIC|20260718110005||RPA^I08^RPA_I08|RPA080001|P|2.5.1 MSA|AA|RQA080001 RF1|A|R^Routine^HL70280|ORTHO^Orthopedic referral^L|20260718110000|20260801100000 AUT|1|PAYERHUB|CITYCARE|AUTH20260718|20260718110005|MRI^MRI knee without contrast^L|APPROVED^Approved^L CTD|PR|Auth^Ava|PO Box 77^^Auckland^^1140^NZ|^WPN^PH^^64^9^5557070 PRD|RT|CityCare^Utilization Review|PO Box 77^^Auckland^^1140^NZ|^^^PAYERHUB|CITYCARE PID|1||123456^^^CITYHOSP^MR||Smith^Jane^Anne^^Ms^^L||19800314|F IN1|1|PLAN77|CITYCARE|CityCare Health Plan|PO Box 77^^Auckland^^1140^NZ|||||Smith^Jane^Anne|SEL DG1|1|I10|M25.561^Pain in right knee^I10|Pain in right knee|20260717103000|A PR1|1|CPT|73721^MRI lower extremity without contrast^CPT|MRI knee without contrast|20260801100000 OBR|1|IMG1001^REFERRAL||KNEE-MRI^Knee MRI authorization support^L|||20260717110000 OBX|1|TX|AUTHNOTE^Authorization note^L||Approved for one MRI knee without contrast, valid through 20260831.||||||F PV1|1|O|ORTHO^CLINIC^1^CITYCLINIC NTE|1||Authorization approved with listed validity dates.

What systems do with it

The requester uses RPA_I08 to update the referral, order, scheduling, or billing workflow. An approved response may unblock the service. A pending or denied response should route to a user queue with the reason, not disappear into an ACK log.

MSA ties the response to the original request. AUT carries the authorization decision and identifier. Clinical and procedure content may be echoed so the requester can verify that the decision applies to the service it actually requested.

How to read the structure

MSH and MSA frame the response. RF1 can carry referral status context. The authorization group uses AUT and optional CTD.

The message can echo or return provider, patient, insurance, diagnosis, procedure, observation, and visit content through PRD, PID, IN1, DG1, PR1, OBR, OBX, and PV1.

Implementation traps

Do not stop at MSA-1. A message-level accept does not mean the service was authorized. Read the authorization content and route pending, rejected, or information-needed responses appropriately.

Also be precise about validity dates and scope. An authorization may approve only one procedure, one site of service, one date range, or one provider. Store those constraints with the authorization number.

Reference notes

HL7 terminology identifies I08 as the RQA/RPA request for treatment authorization information. The local RPA_I08 response adds MSA and can return authorization, provider, patient, insurance, diagnosis, procedure, observation, visit, and notes.