^A13
ADT^A13 — Cancel Discharge/End Visit
Sent to cancel a previously transmitted ADT^A03 (Discharge) message. It re-activates the patient's encounter in all downstream systems, signalling that the patient is still admitted and the discharge was entered in error.
When Is This Sent?
When a discharge was processed in error — for example, the wrong patient was discharged, or a patient was accidentally discharged but is still present in the facility.
Real-World Usage
Cancel discharge (A13) is critical for patient safety. If a patient is accidentally discharged in the EHR but remains in the hospital, pharmacy medication safety alerts stop, nursing assignments are removed, and the bed shows as available. A13 must reach all downstream systems promptly to restore the patient context and avoid care gaps.
Message Structure
Segment names link to their field-level reference pages.
| # | Segment | Purpose in this message | Req | Repeat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MSH | Message header with ADT^A13 in MSH.9 | R | — |
| 2 | EVN | Event type with A13 trigger | R | — |
| 3 | PID | Patient demographics | R | — |
| 4 | PV1 | Visit information — restored to active inpatient state, PV1.45 (discharge datetime) should be cleared | R | — |
| 5 | PV2 | Extended visit information | O | — |
| 6 | DG1 | Active diagnoses | 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|PACS|20260311100000||ADT^A13^ADT_A13|MSG00060|P|2.5.1 2EVN||A13|20260311100000 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 encounter remains closed in PACS after discharge cancellation
Cause
PACS does not process A13 events and cannot re-open a closed encounter.
Fix
Work with the PACS vendor to implement A13 handling. As a workaround, re-send an A01 or A08 with the visit number matching the original encounter — some PACS systems will re-activate the encounter on receiving an admit or update for a known visit number.
Common Confusions
ADT^A13 (Cancel Discharge) vs ADT^A03 (Discharge). A13 is the reversal of A03 — it re-opens the encounter. Do not send a new A01 after an erroneous A03; use A13 to preserve the original visit number and encounter data.
Related Message Types
Segment Reference
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