HL7 PV1 Segment: Patient Visit

The HL7 PV1 segment (Patient Visit) carries information about a patient’s encounter — their patient class (inpatient, outpatient, emergency), assigned location, attending and referring physicians, and admission/discharge dates. PV1 appears in ADT, ORM, ORU, and most other HL7 v2 message types.

PV1 Field Reference

Seq	Name	Type	Opt	Description
`PV1-1`	Set ID	SI	O	Sequence number (usually 1)
`★ PV1-2`	Patient Class	IS	R	I, O, E, P, R, B, U
I=Inpatient, O=Outpatient, E=Emergency, P=Pre-admit, R=Recurring, B=Obstetrics, U=Unknown.
`★ PV1-3`	Assigned Patient Location	PL	O	Unit^Room^Bed^Facility
PL data type: Point of Care^Room^Bed^Facility. Changes with every transfer (ADT^A02). Downstream systems must process A02 events to track current location.
`PV1-4`	Admission Type	IS	O	Emergency, urgent, elective
`PV1-5`	Preadmit Number	CX	O	Pre-admission identifier
`PV1-6`	Prior Patient Location	PL	O	Previous location before transfer
`★ PV1-7`	Attending Doctor	XCN	O	Primary attending physician
Physician currently responsible for patient care. Can change during a hospitalization.
`★ PV1-8`	Referring Doctor	XCN	O	Referring physician
Physician who referred the patient to this facility or provider.
`PV1-9`	Consulting Doctor	XCN	O	Consulting physicians (repeating)
`★ PV1-10`	Hospital Service	IS	O	MED, SUR, OBS, PED, etc.
Department or service line: MED (Medicine), SUR (Surgery), OBS (Obstetrics), PED (Pediatrics), CAR (Cardiology), ONC (Oncology), etc.
`PV1-11`	Temporary Location	PL	O	Current temporary location
`PV1-12`	Preadmit Test Indicator	IS	O	Pre-admit testing required
`PV1-13`	Re-admission Indicator	IS	O	R (Re-admission)
`PV1-14`	Admit Source	IS	O	Physician referral, ER, transfer
`PV1-15`	Ambulatory Status	IS	O	A (Ambulatory), W (Wheelchair)
`PV1-16`	VIP Indicator	IS	O	VIP status code
`PV1-17`	Admitting Doctor	XCN	O	Physician who admitted patient
Set once at admission, typically does not change. Distinct from PV1-7 (Attending), which can change.
`PV1-18`	Patient Type	IS	O	Patient type classification
`★ PV1-19`	Visit Number	CX	O	Encounter/visit identifier
Distinct from PID-18 (account number). A single hospital stay may have one visit number but generate multiple account numbers (e.g., professional vs institutional billing).
`PV1-20`	Financial Class	FC	O	Insurance/payer class
`PV1-36`	Discharge Disposition	IS	O	Where patient went after discharge
01=Home, 02=Short-term hospital, 03=SNF, 06=Home health, 07=AMA, 20=Expired, 50=Hospice-home.
`PV1-37`	Discharged to Location	DLD	O	Destination facility
`PV1-38`	Diet Type	CE	O	Patient dietary needs
`PV1-39`	Servicing Facility	IS	O	Current servicing facility
`PV1-40`	Bed Status	IS	O	Active, housekeeping, etc.
`PV1-41`	Account Status	IS	O	Financial account status
`PV1-42`	Pending Location	PL	O	Planned transfer destination
Populated in ADT^A15 (Pending Transfer) before the actual A02 transfer occurs.
`PV1-43`	Prior Temp Location	PL	O	Previous temporary location
`★ PV1-44`	Admit Date/Time	TS	O	When patient was admitted
`★ PV1-45`	Discharge Date/Time	TS	O	When patient was discharged
`PV1-46`	Current Patient Balance	NM	O	Financial balance
`PV1-47`	Total Charges	NM	O	Total visit charges
`PV1-48`	Total Adjustments	NM	O	Total billing adjustments
`PV1-49`	Total Payments	NM	O	Total payments received
`PV1-50`	Alternate Visit ID	CX	O	Alternate encounter ID
`PV1-51`	Visit Indicator	IS	O	V (Visit), A (Account)
`PV1-52`	Other Healthcare Provider	XCN	O	Additional providers

PV1-1 O

Set ID SI

Sequence number (usually 1)

★ PV1-2 R

Patient Class IS

I, O, E, P, R, B, U

I=Inpatient, O=Outpatient, E=Emergency, P=Pre-admit, R=Recurring, B=Obstetrics, U=Unknown.

★ PV1-3 O

Assigned Patient Location PL

Unit^Room^Bed^Facility

PL data type: Point of Care^Room^Bed^Facility. Changes with every transfer (ADT^A02). Downstream systems must process A02 events to track current location.

PV1-4 O

Admission Type IS

Emergency, urgent, elective

PV1-5 O

Preadmit Number CX

Pre-admission identifier

PV1-6 O

Prior Patient Location PL

Previous location before transfer

★ PV1-7 O

Attending Doctor XCN

Primary attending physician

Physician currently responsible for patient care. Can change during a hospitalization.

★ PV1-8 O

Referring Doctor XCN

Referring physician

Physician who referred the patient to this facility or provider.

PV1-9 O

Consulting Doctor XCN

Consulting physicians (repeating)

★ PV1-10 O

Hospital Service IS

MED, SUR, OBS, PED, etc.

Department or service line: MED (Medicine), SUR (Surgery), OBS (Obstetrics), PED (Pediatrics), CAR (Cardiology), ONC (Oncology), etc.

PV1-11 O

Temporary Location PL

Current temporary location

PV1-12 O

Preadmit Test Indicator IS

Pre-admit testing required

PV1-13 O

Re-admission Indicator IS

R (Re-admission)

PV1-14 O

Admit Source IS

Physician referral, ER, transfer

PV1-15 O

Ambulatory Status IS

A (Ambulatory), W (Wheelchair)

PV1-16 O

VIP Indicator IS

VIP status code

PV1-17 O

Admitting Doctor XCN

Physician who admitted patient

Set once at admission, typically does not change. Distinct from PV1-7 (Attending), which can change.

PV1-18 O

Patient Type IS

Patient type classification

★ PV1-19 O

Visit Number CX

Encounter/visit identifier

Distinct from PID-18 (account number). A single hospital stay may have one visit number but generate multiple account numbers (e.g., professional vs institutional billing).

PV1-20 O

Financial Class FC

Insurance/payer class

PV1-36 O

Discharge Disposition IS

Where patient went after discharge

01=Home, 02=Short-term hospital, 03=SNF, 06=Home health, 07=AMA, 20=Expired, 50=Hospice-home.

PV1-37 O

Discharged to Location DLD

Destination facility

PV1-38 O

Diet Type CE

Patient dietary needs

PV1-39 O

Servicing Facility IS

Current servicing facility

PV1-40 O

Bed Status IS

Active, housekeeping, etc.

PV1-41 O

Account Status IS

Financial account status

PV1-42 O

Pending Location PL

Planned transfer destination

Populated in ADT^A15 (Pending Transfer) before the actual A02 transfer occurs.

PV1-43 O

Prior Temp Location PL

Previous temporary location

★ PV1-44 O

Admit Date/Time TS

When patient was admitted

★ PV1-45 O

Discharge Date/Time TS

When patient was discharged

PV1-46 O

Current Patient Balance NM

Financial balance

PV1-47 O

Total Charges NM

Total visit charges

PV1-48 O

Total Adjustments NM

Total billing adjustments

PV1-49 O

Total Payments NM

Total payments received

PV1-50 O

Alternate Visit ID CX

Alternate encounter ID

PV1-51 O

Visit Indicator IS

V (Visit), A (Account)

PV1-52 O

Other Healthcare Provider XCN

Additional providers

R = Required, O = Optional, C = Conditional, W = Withdrawn (backward compatibility only)

PV1-2: Patient Class Codes

Code	Meaning	Description
I	Inpatient	Admitted to the hospital
O	Outpatient	Ambulatory visit, not admitted
E	Emergency	Emergency department encounter
P	Pre-admit	Scheduled but not yet admitted
R	Recurring	Recurring outpatient (dialysis, chemo)
B	Obstetrics	Birthing/labor and delivery
U	Unknown	Classification not determined

PV1-3: Assigned Patient Location

The PL (Person Location) data type structures the patient’s physical location:

PV1|1|I|ICU^0101^01^MAIN_HOSP^^^^NURS|...

Component	Name	Example	Meaning
PL.1	Point of Care	ICU	Unit/department/ward
PL.2	Room	0101	Room number
PL.3	Bed	01	Bed number
PL.4	Facility	MAIN_HOSP	Facility identifier
PL.5	Location Status	(empty)	Active, inactive
PL.6	Person Location Type	(empty)	C (Clinic), D (Department)
PL.7	Building	(empty)	Building identifier
PL.8	Floor	NURS	Floor/nursing station

PV1-10: Hospital Service Codes

Code	Service
MED	Medicine
SUR	Surgery
OBS	Obstetrics
PED	Pediatrics
PSY	Psychiatry
CAR	Cardiology
ONC	Oncology
ORT	Orthopedics
URO	Urology
NEU	Neurology
PUL	Pulmonology
EM	Emergency Medicine
RAD	Radiology

PV1-36: Discharge Disposition Codes

Code	Meaning
01	Discharged to home
02	Discharged to short-term hospital
03	Discharged to SNF
04	Discharged to ICF
05	Discharged to another facility
06	Discharged to home health
07	Left against medical advice (AMA)
08	Discharged to home IV therapy
20	Expired
30	Still patient (not discharged)
43	Discharged to federal health care
50	Hospice - home
51	Hospice - medical facility
70	Discharged to law enforcement

Key Implementation Considerations

Location Tracking

PV1-3 (Assigned Location) changes with every patient transfer (ADT^A02). Downstream systems that need current patient location must process A02 events and update PV1-3 accordingly. Key considerations:

PV1-6 (Prior Location): Contains the previous location during a transfer — useful for bed management and audit trails
PV1-11 (Temporary Location): Used when a patient is temporarily moved (e.g., to radiology) but their assigned bed is retained
PV1-42 (Pending Location): Populated in ADT^A15 (Pending Transfer) before the actual A02 transfer occurs

Attending vs Admitting vs Referring

PV1-7 (Attending Doctor): The physician currently responsible for the patient’s care. This can change during a hospitalization.
PV1-8 (Referring Doctor): The physician who referred the patient to this facility or provider.
PV1-17 (Admitting Doctor): The physician who authorized the admission. Set once at admission and typically does not change.

Visit Number (PV1-19)

PV1-19 carries the encounter/visit identifier. In many EHR systems, this is distinct from the patient account number (PID-18). A single hospital stay may have one visit number but generate multiple account numbers (e.g., professional vs institutional billing accounts).

HL7 ADT Messages ADT event types — the primary message type that carries PV1 location and visit data.

HL7 Workbench Parse and validate HL7 messages with segment highlighting and field lookup.

HL7 Resource Center Message types, segments, reference guides, and integration tools.

HL7 Integration Services HL7 v2 integration — patient tracking, location management, and census interfaces.