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N316 Remark Code: Disability To Date Invalid

N316 means the date the patient's disability ended, the 'to' date of the disability period, was missing, incomplete, or invalid. The payer couldn't determine the end of the period during which the patient was unable to work.

Quick facts

Code
N316 (RARC N316)
Status
Active In use since December 2, 2004.
Code set
Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes
  • CO (Contractual Obligation): A provider-correctable date problem; the patient is not responsible for the adjustment.
Official description
Missing/incomplete/invalid disability to date.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What N316 means

N316 is the counterpart to N315. Where N315 concerns when a disability began, N316 concerns when it ended, the second half of the box 16 date range on the CMS-1500 (or the equivalent electronic disability dates). The payer needed that end date and found it missing, malformed, or inconsistent.

Payers generally pair N316 with CARC 16. It is most often seen on workers’ compensation, disability, and accident-related claims.

Common causes

  • The disability period was open-ended when the claim was created, and the carrier requires a date.
  • The ‘to’ date is earlier than the ‘from’ date.
  • The end date was updated on a later work-status report, but earlier claims weren’t corrected where the carrier expects consistency.
  • A projected date was entered that the carrier treats as invalid because it hasn’t happened yet.
  • A partial release (modified duty) was reported as the end of disability when the carrier defines it differently.

Steps to take

  1. Review the latest work-status report or release note for the disability end date.
  2. Check the carrier’s rules for open-ended periods and partial releases.
  3. Correct the ‘to’ date, and make sure it follows the ‘from’ date and aligns with any return-to-work date.
  4. Resubmit the claim with the carrier’s correction method, typically frequency code 7.
  5. If the carrier requires a separate work-status form, send it as well.

How to prevent it

Update disability dates at every visit for patients with active work restrictions. Keep a log of each work-status change with its effective date so billing always reflects the current status. Carriers vary widely, so maintain a short reference sheet for each workers’ compensation and disability payer you bill regularly.

Codes that may appear with N316

  • CO-16 (Claim/service lacks information or has submission/billing error(s).): Missing or invalid information; N316 names the disability end date.
  • N315 (Missing/incomplete/invalid disability from date.): The disability 'from' 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.
  • N325 (Missing/incomplete/invalid last worked date.): The last worked date is missing or invalid.

N316 FAQ

What if the disability is ongoing?

Carriers handle ongoing disability differently. Some want an expected end date, others want the field left blank until the patient is released. Follow the carrier's instructions rather than guessing.

Can the 'to' date be in the future?

Some carriers accept an anticipated end date on work-status forms; others only want dates that have occurred. Check before reporting.

Is the 'to' date the same as the return-to-work date?

They are closely related, but carriers may treat them as separate data points, for example when a patient returns to modified duty.