HL7 RXO Pharmacy/Treatment Order
HL7 field reference RXO 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RXO.1 | Requested Give Code | No | No | CE | |
| RXO.2 | Requested Give Amount - Minimum | No | No | NM | |
| RXO.3 | Requested Give Amount - Maximum | No | No | NM | |
| RXO.4 | Requested Give Units | No | No | CE | |
| RXO.5 | Requested Dosage Form | No | No | CE | |
| RXO.6 | Provider's Pharmacy/Treatment Instructions | No | Yes | CE | |
| RXO.7 | Provider's Administration Instructions | No | Yes | CE | |
| RXO.8 | Deliver-To Location | No | No | LA1 | |
| RXO.9 | Allow Substitutions | No | No | ID | 0161 |
| RXO.10 | Requested Dispense Code | No | No | CE | |
| RXO.11 | Requested Dispense Amount | No | No | NM | |
| RXO.12 | Requested Dispense Units | No | No | CE | |
| RXO.13 | Number Of Refills | No | No | NM | |
| RXO.14 | Ordering Provider's DEA Number | No | Yes | XCN | |
| RXO.15 | Pharmacist/Treatment Supplier's Verifier ID | No | Yes | XCN | |
| RXO.16 | Needs Human Review | No | No | ID | 0136 |
| RXO.17 | Requested Give Per (Time Unit) | No | No | ST | |
| RXO.18 | Requested Give Strength | No | No | NM | |
| RXO.19 | Requested Give Strength Units | No | No | CE | |
| RXO.20 | Indication | No | Yes | CE | |
| RXO.21 | Requested Give Rate Amount | No | No | ST | |
| RXO.22 | Requested Give Rate Units | No | No | CE | |
| RXO.23 | Total Daily Dose | No | No | CQ | |
| RXO.24 | Supplementary Code | No | Yes | CE | |
| RXO.25 | Requested Drug Strength Volume | No | No | NM | |
| RXO.26 | Requested Drug Strength Volume Units | No | No | CWE | |
| RXO.27 | Pharmacy Order Type | No | No | ID | 0480 |
| RXO.28 | Dispensing Interval | No | No | NM |
RXO carries the requested pharmacy/treatment order before it is encoded or dispensed.
The standard describes RXO this way: This is the "master" pharmacy/treatment order segment. It contains order data not specific to components or additives. Unlike the OBR, it does not contain status fields or other data that are results-only. It can be used for any type of pharmacy order, including inpatient (unit dose and compound unit dose), outpatient, IVs, and hyperalimentation IVs (nutritional IVs), as well as other non-pharmacy treatments, e.g., respiratory therapy, oxygen, and many nursing treatments. In addition to the pharmaceutical/treatment information, this segment contains additional data such as provider and text comments. A quantity/timing field is not needed in the RXO segment. The ORC segment contains the requested ORC-7-quantity/timing of the original order which does not change as the order is encoded, dispensed, or administered.
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 RXO in OMP_O09 - OMP - Pharmacy/treatment order, ORP_O10 - ORP - Pharmacy/treatment order acknowledgment, RAS_O17 - RAS - Pharmacy/treatment administration, and RDE_O11 - RDE - Pharmacy/treatment encoded order, and 7 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.
RXO-1 identifies the Requested Give 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.
RXO-2 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.
RXO-3 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.
RXO-4 supplies the units that make the companion numeric field meaningful. Units should be coded consistently, especially for medication, lab, specimen, and billing quantities.
RXO-5 carries Requested Dosage Form 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.
RXO-6 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.
RXO-7 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.
RXO-8 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.
RXO-9 carries Allow Substitutions 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.
The generated panel links this to HL7 table 0161; many real interfaces narrow that list further, so follow the receiver's implementation guide.
RXO-10 identifies the Requested Dispense 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.
RXO-11 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.
RXO-12 supplies the units that make the companion numeric field meaningful. Units should be coded consistently, especially for medication, lab, specimen, and billing quantities.
RXO-13 is a count or total for this pharmacy workflow. Make the counting rule explicit before using it for reconciliation, billing, or workflow limits.
RXO-14 identifies the Ordering Provider's DEA 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.
RXO-15 identifies the Pharmacist/Treatment Supplier's Verifier ID 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.
RXO-16 carries Needs Human Review 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.
The generated panel links this to HL7 table 0136; many real interfaces narrow that list further, so follow the receiver's implementation guide.
RXO-17 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.
RXO-18 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.
RXO-19 supplies the units that make the companion numeric field meaningful. Units should be coded consistently, especially for medication, lab, specimen, and billing quantities.
RXO-20 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.
RXO-21 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.
RXO-22 supplies the units that make the companion numeric field meaningful. Units should be coded consistently, especially for medication, lab, specimen, and billing quantities.
RXO-23 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.
RXO-24 identifies the Supplementary 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.
If there are several identifiers, use repetitions deliberately and make each repeat self-explanatory rather than relying on position alone.
RXO-25 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.
RXO-26 supplies the units that make the companion numeric field meaningful. Units should be coded consistently, especially for medication, lab, specimen, and billing quantities.
RXO-27 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.
RXO-28 carries Dispensing Interval 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.
Related links
- RXE - Pharmacy/Treatment Encoded Order
- RXC - Pharmacy/Treatment Component Order
- RXD - Pharmacy/Treatment Dispense
- RXG - Pharmacy/Treatment Give
- RXA - Pharmacy/Treatment Administration
- RXR - Pharmacy/Treatment Route
- TQ1 - Timing/Quantity
- ORC - Common Order
- OMP_O09 - OMP - Pharmacy/treatment order
- ORP_O10 - ORP - Pharmacy/treatment order acknowledgment