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N274 Remark Code: Other Payer 'Other Provider' ID

N274 means the identifier a previous payer uses for an 'other provider' on the claim was missing, incomplete, or invalid. It concerns coordination of benefits data for the extra provider roles on a secondary claim.

Quick facts

Code
N274 (RARC N274)
Status
Active In use since December 2, 2004.
Code set
Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes
  • CO (Contractual Obligation): The provider must supply the missing COB identifier; the patient is not billed for this adjustment.
Official description
Missing/incomplete/invalid other payer other provider identifier.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What N274 means

An institutional claim can list additional clinicians in flexible “other provider” roles, such as a second surgeon or a rendering provider. When that claim is sent to a secondary payer, the electronic format can also say how the prior payer identified each of those clinicians. N274 appears when the secondary payer required that prior-payer identifier for an other-provider role and it was absent or invalid.

It is a narrow COB data remark, generally paired with CARC 16.

Why it happens

Secondary claims are often generated automatically from the primary claim. If the system copies the provider roles but not the other-payer identifiers, any payer that insists on them will return N274. It also occurs when:

  • the primary payer uses a proprietary number for the clinician and that number isn’t stored anywhere in your system;
  • an identifier is reported without the qualifier that says what type it is;
  • the other-provider roles differ between the primary and secondary versions of the claim, so the payer cannot match them.

Steps to resolve

  1. Find which other-provider role the remark relates to by checking the qualifier on the claim.
  2. Look up how the primary payer identifies that clinician, using its remittance or your enrollment file with that payer.
  3. Add the identifier, with its qualifier, to the other-payer section of the secondary claim.
  4. Make sure the other-provider roles match what the primary payer adjudicated.
  5. Send a replacement claim using frequency code 7.

How to prevent it

If your secondary payers regularly require prior-payer provider IDs, capture every payer-assigned number during credentialing and keep them with the provider record. Before going live with a new secondary payer, review its COB requirements for all provider roles, not just billing and attending. The COB denials guide covers the wider set of secondary-claim checks.

Codes that may appear with N274

  • CO-16 (Claim/service lacks information or has submission/billing error(s).): The claim is missing information; N274 names the other payer's identifier for an additional provider.
  • N270 (Missing/incomplete/invalid other provider primary identifier.): The other provider's own NPI on this claim is the issue, not a prior payer's ID.
  • N271 (Missing/incomplete/invalid other provider secondary identifier.): The other provider's own secondary identifier is the issue.
  • N272 (Missing/incomplete/invalid other payer attending provider identifier.): The prior payer's identifier for the attending provider is the issue.

N274 FAQ

How is N274 different from N270?

N270 is about the other provider's NPI as you reported it. N274 is about the number a prior payer uses for that same provider, reported in the coordination of benefits section of a secondary claim.

Does N274 mean the primary payer paid incorrectly?

No. It only means the secondary payer lacked a provider identifier it wanted from the primary payer's processing.

Do I need to contact the primary payer?

Only if you don't know the identifier it uses. Your enrollment records or the primary remittance usually have it.