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NTE - Notes And Comments Segment

The NTE segment is defined here for inclusion in messages defined in other chapters. It is commonly used for sending notes and comments.

The work groups define the meaning of the NTE segments within the context of the messages in their chapters. For each NTE, the description in the message attribute table SHOULD include an indication of the segment associated with the NTE, for example "Notes and Comments for the PID".

NOTE: While sending of segments with no content has been historically used for display messages to indicate blank lines this is not best practice. Senders SHOULD NOT send empty NTEs to indicate blank lines. When blank lines are required senders SHOULD use the functionality of the FT datatype in section Formatting codes.


HL7 Attribute Table - NTE - notes and comments segment
Seq# Data Element Name DataType Usage Vocabulary Cardinality Item # Length C.LEN Flags
NTE
1 Set ID - NTE SI O
[0..1] 00096
2 Source of Comment ID O
0105(R) Source of Comment(Required)
[0..1] 00097 [1..1]
3 Comment FT C
[0..*] 00098
4 Comment Type CWE O
0364(S) Comment Type(Suggested)
[0..1] 01318
5 Entered By XCN O
[0..1] 00224
6 Entered Date/Time DTM O
[0..1] 00661
7 Effective Start Date DTM O
[0..1] 01004
8 Expiration Date DTM O
[0..1] 02185
9 Coded Comment CWE O
0611
[0..*] 03495

NTE-1: Set ID - NTE (SI) 00096

Definition: This field MAY be used where multiple NTE segments are included in a message. Their numbering must be described in the application message definition.

NTE-2: Source of Comment (ID) 00097

Definition: This field is used when source of comment must be identified. This table MAY be extended locally during implementation. Refer to HL7 Table 0105 - Source of Comment in Chapter 2C, Code Tables, for valid values.

NTE-3: Comment (FT) 00098

Definition: This field contains the comment contained in the segment.

Conditionality Predicate: In support of backwards compatibility, when NTE-9 is populated, the sending system SHALL also populate a human-readable version of the comment in NTE-3. When NTE-9 is not populated then NTE-3 MAY be populated.

Note: NTE-3 has been left blank for the use cases where legacy systems are sending a blank NTE as a line feed.


Note: As of v2.2, this field uses the FT rather than a TX data type. Since there is no difference between an FT data type without any embedded formatting commands, and a TX data type, this change is compatible with the previous version.


NTE-4: Comment Type (CWE) 01318

Definition: This field contains a value to identify the type of comment text being sent in the specific comment record. Refer to User-Defined Table 0364 - Comment Type in Chapter 2C, Code Tables, for suggested values.

Note:    A field already exists on the NTE record that identifies the Sources of Comment (e.g., ancillary, placer, other). However some applications need to support other types of comment text (e.g., instructions, reason, remarks, etc.). A separate NTE segment can be used for each type of comment (e.g., instructions are on one NTE and remarks on another NTE).


NTE-5: Entered By (XCN) 00224

Definition: This field contains the identity of the person who actually keyed the comment into the application. It provides an audit trail in case the comment is entered incorrectly and the ancillary department needs to clarify the comment. By local agreement, either the ID number or name component MAY be omitted.

NTE-6: Entered Date/Time (DTM) 00661

Definition: This field contains the actual date the comment was keyed into the application.

NTE-7: Effective Start Date (DTM) 01004

Definition: This field contains the date the comment becomes or became effective.

NTE-8: Expiration Date (DTM) 02185

Definition: This field contains the date the comment becomes or became non-effective.

NTE-9: Coded Comment (CWE) 03495

Definition: This field contains a value to identify a codified comment being sent in the specific comment record. If this field is valued, NTE-3 will be populated with text from this field. In support of backwards compatibility, when NTE-9 is populated, the sending system SHALL also populate a human-readable version of the comment in NTE-3. Refer to Table 0611 - Coded Comment in Chapter 2C for valid values.