^A10
ADT^A10 — Patient Arriving - Tracking
Sent when a patient returns to their assigned location after a temporary absence. This is the counterpart to ADT^A09 (Patient Departing). It confirms the patient is back in their room or unit and location tracking is resolved.
When Is This Sent?
When a patient returns from a temporary procedure, diagnostic test, or transport and arrives back at their assigned location. Typically paired with an A09 sent when the patient left.
Real-World Usage
A10 closes the loop on A09 in transport and bed tracking workflows. Without A10, bed management systems show patients as perpetually absent from their rooms. In radiology transport workflows, A10 can also confirm patient arrival in the radiology suite before imaging begins.
Message Structure
Segment names link to their field-level reference pages.
| # | Segment | Purpose in this message | Req | Repeat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MSH | Message header with ADT^A10 in MSH.9 | R | — |
| 2 | EVN | Event type with A10 trigger and arrival timestamp | R | — |
| 3 | PID | Patient demographics | R | — |
| 4 | PV1 | Visit information with the patient's location — reflecting return to assigned room or arrival at procedure location | R | — |
| 5 | PV2 | Extended visit information | O | — |
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|20260310150000||ADT^A10^ADT_A10|MSG00050|P|2.5.1 2EVN||A10|20260310150000 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
Patient shows as still absent in bed management after returning to room
Cause
A10 message is not being sent by the EHR, or is not reaching the bed management system.
Fix
Verify the EHR is configured to generate A10 messages when a patient return is documented. Check interface engine logs to confirm A10 delivery. Ensure A10 events are included in the bed management interface subscription.
Common Confusions
ADT^A10 (Arriving - Tracking) vs ADT^A01 (Admit). A10 signals a patient's return to their existing assigned location — no new encounter is created. A01 creates a new encounter. If A10 is accidentally processed as A01, downstream systems will create duplicate encounters.
Related Message Types
Segment Reference
Paste this message into our viewer
Interactive HL7 parser. Decodes every field, validates structure, highlights errors. Free, no signup.
Open HL7 Message Viewer →Need mapping templates?
The HL7 Integration Toolkit includes field mapping worksheets and interface spec templates for every major HL7 message type including ADT^A10.
View HL7 Integration Toolkit →