MEDPID — EDIFACT Person Identification (Healthcare) (D.20B)
The MEDPID message identifies a person unambiguously in a healthcare exchange: a patient, a healthcare professional or an administrative party. It carries national identifiers, contact details and role. This page summarises the segment structure as published by UN/CEFACT for directory D.20B.
Purpose
The MEDPID message identifies a person unambiguously in a healthcare exchange: a patient, a healthcare professional or an administrative party. It carries national identifiers, contact details and role.
This page focuses on the structure published by UN/CEFACT for directory D.20B. The segments listed, their status (M / C), position and repetition factor are extracted from the official file medpid_c.htm hosted on service.unece.org.
Segment structure
The MEDPID D.20B message has 46 header entries, 0 detail entries and 0 summary entries (segments and groups combined). Groups are shown in bold and their members are indented by actual nesting depth.
Header
| Pos. | Tag | Name | S | Rep. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
00010 | UNH | Message header | M | 1 |
00020 | BGM | Beginning of message | M | 1 |
00030 | DTM | Date/time/period | C | ×9 |
00040 | RFF | Reference | C | ×9 |
00050 | FTX | Free text | C | ×99 |
00060 | SG1 | Group (×99) | M | ×99 |
00070 | PNA | Party identification | M | 1 |
00080 | ADR | Address | C | ×9 |
00090 | CTA | Contact information | C | ×9 |
00100 | COM | Communication contact | C | ×9 |
00110 | RFF | Reference | C | ×99 |
00120 | LAN | Language | C | ×9 |
00130 | SG2 | Group (×9999) | M | ×9999 |
00140 | GEI | Processing information | M | 1 |
00150 | PNA | Party identification | C | 1 |
00160 | ADR | Address | C | ×9 |
00170 | RFF | Reference | C | ×99 |
00180 | DTM | Date/time/period | C | ×9 |
00190 | IHC | Person characteristic | C | ×9 |
00200 | NAT | Nationality | C | ×9 |
00210 | FTX | Free text | C | ×9 |
00220 | LAN | Language | C | ×9 |
00230 | HAN | Handling instructions | C | ×9 |
00240 | LOC | Place/location identification | C | ×9 |
00250 | FII | Financial institution information | C | ×9 |
00260 | CTA | Contact information | C | ×9 |
00270 | SG3 | Group (×9) | C | ×9 |
00280 | PDI | Person demographic information | M | 1 |
00290 | DTM | Date/time/period | C | ×9 |
00300 | SG4 | Group (×9) | C | ×9 |
00310 | COM | Communication contact | M | 1 |
00320 | CTA | Contact information | C | ×9 |
00330 | SG5 | Group (×99) | C | ×99 |
00340 | REL | Relationship | M | 1 |
00350 | PNA | Party identification | C | 1 |
00360 | ADR | Address | C | ×9 |
00370 | RFF | Reference | C | ×9 |
00380 | DTM | Date/time/period | C | ×9 |
00390 | PDI | Person demographic information | C | 1 |
00400 | IHC | Person characteristic | C | ×9 |
00410 | NAT | Nationality | C | ×9 |
00420 | LAN | Language | C | ×9 |
00430 | SG6 | Group (×9) | C | ×9 |
00440 | AUT | Authentication result | M | 1 |
00450 | DTM | Date/time/period | C | ×9 |
00460 | UNT | Message trailer | M | 1 |
Detail
No segment in this section.
Summary
No segment in this section.
Changes vs D.96A
Top-level differences between D.96A and D.20B for the MEDPID message (segments directly inside header / detail / summary, ignoring nested groups). The comparison is indicative: a given tag may have evolved inside nested groups without showing up in this synthesis.
Segments added vs D.96A
GEIin the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
Segments removed vs D.96A
GISin the header section — present in D.96A but missing in D.20B at the same level.
Structural example
Minimal example of an MEDPID D.20B message with mandatory segments only. The goal is to show the exact version declared in UNH (MEDPID:D:20B:UN) — not to replicate a full business case (see the MEDPID D.96A page for an annotated example).
UNB+UNOC:3+5410000000123:14+5410000000456:14+260514:1430+CTRL020001'
UNH+1+MEDPID:D:20B:UN'
BGM+380+MEDPID-2026-0072+9'
DTM+137:20260514:102'
PNA+PAT+1820000007654::ZZZ+++SU:DUPONT+FN:JEAN'
ADR+CD+++75001:PARIS:::FR'
DTM+329:19720312:102'
ATT+1+M'
COM+0142345678:TE'
UNT+9+1'
UNZ+1+CTRL020001'Common errors
- Misaligned UNH tokens — The
UNH+...+MEDPID:D:20B:UNtoken must reflect exactly the directory in use — a mismatch between the UNH release and the release agreed with the partner is rejected by every strict validator. - Wrong UNT segment count — The value after
UNT+must include UNH and UNT themselves. By far the most common sender-side error, regardless of the directory in use. - Stale code lists — Between D.96A and D.20B, several code lists received new qualifiers (DTM status, RFF qualifier, NAD codes…). Reusing an older directory’s code tables triggers warnings or even rejections depending on the partner’s strict-conformance mode.
Related messages
Other versions of this message available on ediverse.io: MEDPID D.96A, MEDPID D.01B, MEDPID D.10A, MEDPID D.16B, MEDPID D.21B, MEDPID D.24A, MEDPID D.97A, MEDPID D.99B, MEDPID D.00B, MEDPID D.02B, MEDPID D.05A, MEDPID D.08A, MEDPID D.13B, MEDPID D.18B.
X12 functional equivalent: X12 270.