HL7 BTS Batch Trailer
HL7 field reference BTS fields from HL7 v2.5.1 Show fields
BTS closes a batch and gives the receiver counts and comments to reconcile what was just received.
Batch and file wrappers are operational plumbing: they tell you where a file or batch starts, where it ends, who sent it, who should receive it, and how to reconcile the contents.
The messages inside still have their own MSH headers. The wrapper fields are about file-level routing, batching, duplicate handling, retry behaviour, and counts.
The imported v2.5.1 message-structure catalog does not list a common message structure for BTS here, so I would treat it as profile-driven. Use it when your sending and receiving systems have explicitly agreed how the segment is carried.
For practical interface work, read the generated field panel for datatype, required, repeatable, and table details, then use the notes below to decide what the field should mean in the receiving workflow.
BTS-1 is used for reconciliation. The receiver may compare it with the segments, batches, messages, rows, or items actually received, so do not populate it from a stale estimate.
BTS-2 is human-readable context. Keep it useful for display and troubleshooting, but do not hide required workflow logic here unless the implementation guide explicitly says the receiver parses it.
BTS-3 is used for reconciliation. The receiver may compare it with the segments, batches, messages, rows, or items actually received, so do not populate it from a stale estimate.
This field can repeat. Use repetitions for separate real-world values, not as a workaround for putting several unrelated ideas in one field.