^A09
ADT^A09 — Patient Departing - Tracking
Sent when a patient temporarily leaves their assigned location — for example, leaving the floor to go to radiology, the OR, or physical therapy. This is a location tracking event, not a discharge or transfer. The patient is expected to return.
When Is This Sent?
When a patient departs their assigned room or unit for a temporary procedure, test, or transport and the facility tracks intermediate locations. PV1.3 reflects the patient's current (temporary) location.
Real-World Usage
A09 and its counterpart A10 (Patient Arriving) are used in hospitals with active bed tracking and transport management systems. In radiology, A09 signals that the patient is en route, helping technologists anticipate patient arrivals. Not all facilities implement A09/A10 — they are more common in large academic medical centers with dedicated transport teams.
Message Structure
Segment names link to their field-level reference pages.
| # | Segment | Purpose in this message | Req | Repeat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MSH | Message header with ADT^A09 in MSH.9 | R | — |
| 2 | EVN | Event type with A09 trigger and departure timestamp | R | — |
| 3 | PID | Patient demographics | R | — |
| 4 | PV1 | Visit information including current (temporary) departure location | R | — |
| 5 | PV2 | Reason for temporary departure | O | — |
| 6 | DG1 | Active diagnosis context | O | Yes |
Example Message
Realistic example with fake patient data. Paste into the HL7 Message Viewer to explore interactively.
1MSH||^~\&|EPIC|HOSPITAL_A|MIRTH_PROD|BED_MGT|20260310143000||ADT^A09^ADT_A09|MSG00045|P|2.5.1 2EVN||A09|20260310143000 3PID||1||123456^^^HOSP_A^MR||Smith^John^M^^Mr.||19850315|M 4PV1||1|I|4A^201^1^^^HOSP_A||||1234^Ahmed^Dr.^Khalid|||MED|||||||||IP||||||||||||||||||||||||||20260310143000
Troubleshooting Scenarios
Bed management system shows patient as still in room while patient is in radiology
Cause
A09 messages are not being distributed to the bed management system, or the system is not configured to process A09 events.
Fix
Add A09 to the bed management interface event subscription. Confirm the temporary location format in PV1.3 matches what the bed management system expects for in-transit or procedure locations.
Common Confusions
ADT^A09 (Departing - Tracking) vs ADT^A02 (Transfer). A09 is a temporary, non-permanent location change — the patient's primary assigned location does not change. A02 is a permanent location change. After an A09, the patient is expected to return and an A10 (arriving) will be sent. After an A02, no return is expected.
Related Message Types
Segment Reference
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