ADT^A16 — Pending Discharge

The physician has scheduled discharge: A16 alerts pharmacy, transport, social services and the ambulatory EHR to prepare the discharge letter and prescription.

Purpose

A16 carries the expected discharge timestamp (PV2 Expected Discharge Date) without yet closing the encounter. Typical receiver effects: pharmacy prepares the discharge prescription, social services trigger home return or rehab admission, the ambulatory EHR pre-loads the chart, billing prepares the closing.

A16 is not a firm discharge: A03 closes the stay. To cancel a planned discharge before A03, A25 (Cancel Pending Discharge) rolls it back.

Segment structure

Structure ADT_A16 with PV1 (current encounter) and PV2 (expected date).

Real-world example

Discharge planned for 18 May at 17:00:

MSH|^~\&|HIS|HOSP01|EHR|CLINIC02|20260518090000||ADT^A16^ADT_A16|MSG00016001|P|2.5.1|||AL|NE
EVN|A16|20260518090000|20260518170000||DRJONES^Jones^Sarah^^^DR.
PID|1||MRN567890^^^HOSP^MR||DOE^JOHN^A^^MR.||19720515|M|||100 MAIN ST^^ANYTOWN^CA^90210^USA||(555)555-1234|||S||ACCT123456
PV1|1|I|MED^205^B^HOSP01|EM|||DRSMITH^Smith^James^A^^DR.|||MED|||1|||DRSMITH^Smith^James^A^^DR.|ADM|||||||||||||||||||HOSP01|||||20260514102530
PV2||||||||||||||20260518170000

Acknowledgment (ACK)

MSH|^~\&|EHR|CLINIC02|HIS|HOSP01|20260518090001||ACK^A16^ACK|ACK00016001|P|2.5.1
MSA|AA|MSG00016001

Common errors

• PV1-45 wrongly populated: A16 does NOT discharge — PV1-45 stays empty until A03.
• A16 with no follow-up A03: pharmacy prepared the prescription, but the patient remains hospitalised. Desyncs inventories.
• PV2 expected date missing: receiver does not know when to prepare.

Related ADT events

See also: ADT^A03, ADT^A25.