Point Versus Interval

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.