HL7 VAR (Variance) | Integration Soup HL7 Reference Guide

HL7 VAR Variance

Care-plan, referral, role, and request fields from experience.

HL7 field reference VAR 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
VAR.1	Variance Instance ID	Yes	No	EI
VAR.2	Documented Date/Time	Yes	No	TS
VAR.3	Stated Variance Date/Time	No	No	TS
VAR.4	Variance Originator	No	Yes	XCN
VAR.5	Variance Classification	No	No	CE
VAR.6	Variance Description	No	Yes	ST

VAR records a variance from an expected care pathway, goal, or plan.

The standard describes VAR this way: The variance segment contains the data necessary to describe differences that may have occurred at the time when a healthcare event was documented.

These segments describe clinical goals, problems, roles, referrals, requisitions, incidents, variances, and resource groupings that sit around the core patient/order/result traffic.

They are most useful when responsibilities, dates, identifiers, and status values are kept explicit. Otherwise they become narrative fragments that are hard to act on.

The v2.5.1 structures show VAR in PGL_PC6 - PGL - PC/ goal add, PPG_PCG - Oriented) add, PPP_PCB - Oriented) add, and PPR_PC1 - PPR - PC/ problem add, 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.

VAR-1 Variance Instance ID RequiredR SingleS TypeEI

VAR-1 identifies the Variance Instance ID for this care-plan or referral 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.

VAR-2 Documented Date/Time RequiredR SingleS TypeTS

VAR-2 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.

VAR-3 Stated Variance Date/Time OptionalO SingleS TypeTS

VAR-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.

VAR-4 Variance Originator OptionalO RepeatableR TypeXCN

VAR-4 is clinical or administrative context for the care-plan or referral workflow. Use the coded value, lifecycle status, and timing fields together so a receiver can decide whether it is new, changed, resolved, cancelled, or historical.

This field can repeat. Use repetitions for separate real-world values, not as a workaround for putting several unrelated ideas in one field.

VAR-5 Variance Classification OptionalO SingleS TypeCE

VAR-5 qualifies the care-plan or referral workflow rather than identifying it. This is the sort of field receivers often use for branching, filtering, or display grouping.

VAR-6 Variance Description OptionalO RepeatableR TypeST

VAR-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.

HL7^® Reference Guide