Definition: This optional attribute allows master files to classify observations as measuring the patient's state at a point in time (e.g., spot urines, random urines, serum potassium), or averaged over an interval of time (e.g., concentration, total amount, or clearance over a 24-hour collection). Interval measures most often apply to urine and stool specimens (e.g., 24-hour urines, 3-day stool fats). They also apply to clinical measurements such as urine outputs, which are reported as shift totals and 24-hour totals, and event counts on physiologic monitors such as the number of PVCs on a 24-hour Holter monitor.
This field would only be valued in a transaction if the service sending this master file message classified its observation by point versus time interval. This field is not used to record the time collection interval for a particular sample. It is used to specify a characteristic of an observation which has a defined normal range and to distinguish observations of the same kind but observed over varying periods of time. A spot urine sodium would have PT stored in this field. A 24-hour urine sodium and a 24-hour Holter monitor would have 24H stored here. This attribute would only be valued if the filling service classified its observations by timing. Refer to User-defined Table 0255 - Duration Categories in Chapter 2C, Code Tables, for suggested values.
LengthNot specified
26 values
*
(asterisk) Life of the "unit." Used for blood products.
1H
1 hour
1L
1 months (30 days)
1W
1 week
2.5H
2 1/2 hours
2D
2 days
2H
2 hours
2L
2 months
2W
2 weeks
3D
3 days
3H
3 hours
3L
3 months
3W
3 weeks
4D
4 days
4H
4 hours
4W
4 weeks
5D
5 days
5H
5 hours
6D
6 days
6H
6 hours
7H
7 hours
8H
8 hours
12H
12 hours
24H
24 hours
30M
30 minutes
PT
To identify measures at a point in time. This is a synonym for "spot" or "random" as applied to urine measurements.