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N315 Remark Code: Disability From Date Invalid

N315 means the date the patient's disability began, the 'from' date of the disability period, was missing, incomplete, or invalid. Payers that coordinate with disability or work-injury benefits use it to define the period the patient couldn't work.

Quick facts

Code
N315 (RARC N315)
Status
Active In use since December 2, 2004.
Code set
Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes
  • CO (Contractual Obligation): The provider must supply or correct the date; the patient is not billed while the claim is correctable.
Official description
Missing/incomplete/invalid disability from date.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What N315 means

A disability period has a start and an end. The start, or ‘from’ date, marks when the patient became unable to work because of the condition being treated. Carriers that pay wage benefits, or that need to relate treatment to a period of incapacity, rely on that date. N315 says it was absent or invalid.

The remark typically comes with CARC 16. Once the date is corrected, the payer may still decide coverage belongs elsewhere, such as with a workers’ compensation carrier.

What trips up the ‘from’ date

It’s never asked. Intake doesn’t include work-status questions, so the date isn’t available.

Injury date substituted. Staff enter the accident or injury date in box 16, assuming they’re the same.

Only one side filled. Box 16 carries a ‘to’ date but no ‘from’ date.

Out of order. The ‘from’ date is after the ‘to’ date or after the date of service.

Updates not reflected. The clinician revised the patient’s work status, but billing kept the first version.

How to fix it

  1. Review the clinician’s work-status documentation for when the patient stopped being able to work.
  2. Compare it with the injury date, last worked date, and any return-to-work date so they tell a consistent story.
  3. Enter the ‘from’ date in box 16, or the corresponding electronic field, and the ‘to’ date if known and required.
  4. Submit a corrected claim following the carrier’s rules, commonly with frequency code 7.

How to prevent it

For work-related and disability claims, add work-status questions to intake and to each follow-up visit. Store the dates in structured fields that flow to box 16. An edit that checks the order of injury, last worked, disability, and return-to-work dates catches most inconsistencies before the carrier does. For coordination issues with other carriers, see our COB guide.

Codes that may appear with N315

  • CO-16 (Claim/service lacks information or has submission/billing error(s).): Missing or invalid information; N315 names the disability start date.
  • OA-19 (This is a work-related injury/illness and thus the liability of the Worker's Compensation Carrier.): The payer determined the condition is work-related and belongs to workers' compensation.
  • N316 (Missing/incomplete/invalid disability to date.): The disability 'to' date is missing or invalid.
  • N325 (Missing/incomplete/invalid last worked date.): The last worked date is missing or invalid.
  • N311 (Missing/incomplete/invalid authorized to return to work date.): The authorized return-to-work date is missing or invalid.

N315 FAQ

Where does the disability 'from' date go?

On the CMS-1500, box 16 records the dates the patient was unable to work in their current occupation. Electronic claims carry disability dates in the claim date information. Some carriers use their own forms.

Is it the same as the injury date?

Not necessarily. Someone may be injured one day and stop working later, or keep working for a while. Report the date the disability actually began.

Do regular health plans require it?

Rarely. It is most common with workers' compensation, disability-related programs, and certain auto or liability claims.