HL7 RXA Pharmacy/Treatment Administration
HL7 field reference RXA fields from HL7 v2.5.1 Show fields
These are the generated fields for the version selected at the top of the page. The document stays the same, but the reference panel follows that version.
Fields
| Field | Name | Required | Repeatable | Type | Table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RXA.1 | Give Sub-ID Counter | Yes | No | NM | |
| RXA.2 | Administration Sub-ID Counter | Yes | No | NM | |
| RXA.3 | Date/Time Start of Administration | Yes | No | TS | |
| RXA.4 | Date/Time End of Administration | Yes | No | TS | |
| RXA.5 | Administered Code | Yes | No | CE | 0292 |
| RXA.6 | Administered Amount | Yes | No | NM | |
| RXA.7 | Administered Units | No | No | CE | |
| RXA.8 | Administered Dosage Form | No | No | CE | |
| RXA.9 | Administration Notes | No | Yes | CE | |
| RXA.10 | Administering Provider | No | Yes | XCN | |
| RXA.11 | Administered-at Location | No | No | LA2 | |
| RXA.12 | Administered Per (Time Unit) | No | No | ST | |
| RXA.13 | Administered Strength | No | No | NM | |
| RXA.14 | Administered Strength Units | No | No | CE | |
| RXA.15 | Substance Lot Number | No | Yes | ST | |
| RXA.16 | Substance Expiration Date | No | Yes | TS | |
| RXA.17 | Substance Manufacturer Name | No | Yes | CE | 0227 |
| RXA.18 | Substance/Treatment Refusal Reason | No | Yes | CE | |
| RXA.19 | Indication | No | Yes | CE | |
| RXA.20 | Completion Status | No | No | ID | 0322 |
| RXA.21 | Action Code - RXA | No | No | ID | 0323 |
| RXA.22 | System Entry Date/Time | No | No | TS | |
| RXA.23 | Administered Drug Strength Volume | No | No | NM | |
| RXA.24 | Administered Drug Strength Volume Units | No | No | CWE | |
| RXA.25 | Administered Barcode Identifier | No | No | CWE | |
| RXA.26 | Pharmacy Order Type | No | No | ID | 0480 |
RXA records a pharmacy or treatment administration event: what was actually administered, when, how much, and by whom.
The standard describes RXA this way: The ORC must have the filler order number and the order control code RE. As a site-specific variant, the RXO and associated RXCs and/or the RXE (and associated RXCs) may be present if the receiving application needs any of their data. The RXA carries the administration data.
Pharmacy/treatment segments split a medication workflow into ordered, encoded, dispensed, administered, component, route, timing, and instruction details.
Be very clear about whether a field describes what was ordered, what the pharmacy dispensed, what was scheduled to be given, or what was actually administered. Those are related, but they are not the same event.
The v2.5.1 structures show RXA in CSU_C09 - CSU - Automated time intervals for reporting like monthly, PEX_P07 - PEX - Unsolicited initial individual product experience report, RAR_RAR - Pharmacy/treatment administration information, and RAS_O17 - RAS - Pharmacy/treatment administration, and 4 other message structures. That tells you where it can appear, but the implementation guide still decides which optional fields are meaningful.
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.
RXA-1 distinguishes repeated administration or give rows inside the same order context. Treat it as a row-level counter, not as the medication code, order number, or dispense identifier.
RXA-2 distinguishes repeated administration or give rows inside the same order context. Treat it as a row-level counter, not as the medication code, order number, or dispense identifier.
RXA-3 is a timing field. Send the real source-system precision, do not pad unknown dates or times, and agree how timezone offsets are handled when time of day matters.
For effective and end dates, make the boundary rule explicit. Receivers need to know whether the value is inclusive, exclusive, planned, actual, or merely informational.
RXA-4 is a timing field. Send the real source-system precision, do not pad unknown dates or times, and agree how timezone offsets are handled when time of day matters.
For effective and end dates, make the boundary rule explicit. Receivers need to know whether the value is inclusive, exclusive, planned, actual, or merely informational.
RXA-5 identifies the Administered Code for this pharmacy workflow. Send the identifier that the receiving system actually keys on, and keep the assigning authority or coding system visible when the datatype supports it.
The generated panel links this to HL7 table 0292; many real interfaces narrow that list further, so follow the receiver's implementation guide.
RXA-6 carries a measured, counted, priced, or dosed value. A number without the expected unit, currency, or companion qualifier is much easier to misread than an empty field.
RXA-7 supplies the units that make the companion numeric field meaningful. Units should be coded consistently, especially for medication, lab, specimen, and billing quantities.
RXA-8 belongs to the medication/treatment workflow. Be explicit about whether the value describes the original order, encoded order, dispense event, scheduled give, or actual administration.
RXA-9 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.
Because the field can repeat, separate distinct statements into separate repetitions instead of creating one long hard-to-parse block.
RXA-10 identifies a person, provider, staff member, or contact involved in this pharmacy workflow. Use the structured name or provider datatype instead of flattening everything into display text.
When more than one person is sent, repeats should carry role or identifier context so the receiver can tell who did what.
RXA-11 places the pharmacy workflow in an organization, facility, department, room, bed, or location group. Keep physical location, owning department, and receiving facility separate when the datatype allows it.
RXA-12 is a timing field. Send the real source-system precision, do not pad unknown dates or times, and agree how timezone offsets are handled when time of day matters.
RXA-13 belongs to the medication/treatment workflow. Be explicit about whether the value describes the original order, encoded order, dispense event, scheduled give, or actual administration.
RXA-14 supplies the units that make the companion numeric field meaningful. Units should be coded consistently, especially for medication, lab, specimen, and billing quantities.
RXA-15 identifies the Substance Lot Number for this pharmacy workflow. Send the identifier that the receiving system actually keys on, and keep the assigning authority or coding system visible when the datatype supports it.
If there are several identifiers, use repetitions deliberately and make each repeat self-explanatory rather than relying on position alone.
RXA-16 is a timing field. Send the real source-system precision, do not pad unknown dates or times, and agree how timezone offsets are handled when time of day matters.
For effective and end dates, make the boundary rule explicit. Receivers need to know whether the value is inclusive, exclusive, planned, actual, or merely informational.
RXA-17 helps identify the product, software, device, or equipment involved. It is particularly useful when support needs to trace behaviour back to a specific build, lot, instrument, or manufacturer.
If more than one identifier is sent, each repetition should stay attached to the product or device context it belongs to.
RXA-18 qualifies the pharmacy workflow rather than identifying it. This is the sort of field receivers often use for branching, filtering, or display grouping.
This field can repeat. Use repetitions for separate real-world values, not as a workaround for putting several unrelated ideas in one field.
RXA-19 carries Indication for this pharmacy workflow. Populate it only when the receiver has a clear use for it, and keep the value in the datatype shape shown in the generated field panel.
This field can repeat. Use repetitions for separate real-world values, not as a workaround for putting several unrelated ideas in one field.
RXA-20 tells the receiver the state of this pharmacy workflow. Status fields often drive workflow branches, so use the agreed code and do not infer a status just because another field looks complete.
The coded value should follow HL7 table 0322 or the narrower table in the local profile.
RXA-21 says what action is being taken for this segment or record: add, update, delete, cancel, clear, or another profile-defined operation. It needs to agree with the message trigger and the previous state.
The generated panel links this to HL7 table 0323; many real interfaces narrow that list further, so follow the receiver's implementation guide.
RXA-22 is a timing field. Send the real source-system precision, do not pad unknown dates or times, and agree how timezone offsets are handled when time of day matters.
RXA-23 carries a measured, counted, priced, or dosed value. A number without the expected unit, currency, or companion qualifier is much easier to misread than an empty field.
RXA-24 supplies the units that make the companion numeric field meaningful. Units should be coded consistently, especially for medication, lab, specimen, and billing quantities.
RXA-25 identifies the Administered Barcode Identifier for this pharmacy workflow. Send the identifier that the receiving system actually keys on, and keep the assigning authority or coding system visible when the datatype supports it.
RXA-26 qualifies the pharmacy workflow rather than identifying it. This is the sort of field receivers often use for branching, filtering, or display grouping.
Use the agreed value set, starting from HL7 table 0480. A local code without an agreed coding system is a small ambiguity that becomes a mapping problem later.
Related links
- RXO - Pharmacy/Treatment Order
- RXE - Pharmacy/Treatment Encoded Order
- RXC - Pharmacy/Treatment Component Order
- RXD - Pharmacy/Treatment Dispense
- RXG - Pharmacy/Treatment Give
- RXR - Pharmacy/Treatment Route
- TQ1 - Timing/Quantity
- ORC - Common Order
- CSU_C09 - CSU - Automated time intervals for reporting like monthly
- PEX_P07 - PEX - Unsolicited initial individual product experience report