RDE^O25 — Pharmacy/Treatment Refill Authorization Request

Refill authorization request issued by pharmacy to prescriber (EHR/HIS). HL7 v2 equivalent of NCPDP SCRIPT RefillRequest in the US ePrescribing ecosystem.

Purpose

When a patient returns to the pharmacy after the initial prescription (RDE^O11) has exhausted refills (RXE-12 — Number of Refills = 0), the pharmacist must get authorization from the prescriber. RDE^O25 carries that request in structured form: ORC-1 = RF (Refill), cross-references to original prescription, clinical justification.

Segment structure

Structure RDE_O25: MSH, [SFT], [NTE], PID, [PD1], [NTE], [PV1], { ORC, RXE, [NTE], {...} } (1..* groups).

• ORC-1 — Order Control Code: RF mandatory (Refill).
• ORC-2 — Placer Order Number: new reference pharmacy-side.
• ORC-3 — Filler Order Number: original prescription reference prescriber-side.
• RXE-12 — Number of Refills Remaining: should be 0 to justify the request.
• RXE-15 — Prescription Number.

Real-world example

Pharmacy requests Metformin 500 mg refill for T2DM diabetic patient:

MSH|^~\&|PHARMACY|PH_CITY01|EHR|HOSP_CTR|20260519121500||RDE^O25^RDE_O25|RDEO25001|P|2.5.1|||AL|NE
PID|1||MR300405^^^HOSP^MR||LAURENT^PIERRE^^^MR.||19540802|M
ORC|RF|PH-Rx-2026-0301|Rx-2026-0301|Rx-2026-0301-G1|||||20260519120000|||DR_BERNARD^Bernard^Claude
RXE|^TID^^20260519120000^20260820120000|METFORMIN500^Metformin 500 mg coated tablet^L|1|2|TAB|^Per os|||||90|tabs||0|3|||||||||||90|tabs
RXR|PO^Per os^HL70162
NTE|1|P|Refill authorization request: patient finished 90-day supply, requesting 3 more refills for chronic T2DM.

Common errors

• ORC-1 = NW instead of RF: a new prescription requires RDE^O11. RF requires explicit link to initial Rx.
• ORC-3 missing: without Filler Order Number, prescriber doesn't know which Rx the request applies to.
• Refill request with refills remaining: RXE-12 > 0 means pharmacy can self-refill — no authorization needed.
• No clinical NTE: both US and EU physicians often refuse unjustified refills on controlled drug classes.

Pharmacy Rx workflow (RDE / RRE / RDS / RGV / RAS)

See also: RDE^O11, RDS^O13, RAS^O17.