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N317 Remark Code: Discharge Hour Missing

N317 means the discharge hour on an institutional claim was missing, incomplete, or invalid. For inpatient and some other facility claims, the payer requires the hour the patient was discharged, and the value sent couldn't be accepted.

Quick facts

Code
N317 (RARC N317)
Status
Active In use since December 2, 2004.
Code set
Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes
  • CO (Contractual Obligation): The facility must correct the discharge hour. The patient is not liable for this adjustment.
Official description
Missing/incomplete/invalid discharge hour.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What N317 means

Hospitals record when patients are admitted and discharged down to the hour. On the UB-04, the discharge hour sits in form locator 16. Payers use it with the admission hour and dates to verify length of stay and apply rules that depend on time of day. N317 means that hour was missing, out of range, or inconsistent with the claim.

It is almost always paired with CARC 16.

Common causes

  • The stay was billed as a final claim, but the discharge hour was never captured in registration.
  • An interface from the ADT system passed the discharge date without the time.
  • The hour is outside the allowed range or in a format the payer doesn’t accept.
  • The claim is marked as a discharge (via patient status), yet form locator 16 is blank.
  • The claim is an interim bill that includes a discharge hour, conflicting with a ‘still a patient’ status.

How to fix it

  1. Check the ADT record or nursing discharge note for the discharge time.
  2. Convert it to the hour code your claim format expects.
  3. Make sure the patient status, statement through date, and discharge hour all describe the same discharge.
  4. Resubmit a replacement claim with frequency code 7 and the original claim number.

How to prevent it

Discharge time is recorded clinically in real time, so the fix is usually technical: make sure the ADT feed passes the time, not only the date, and that billing maps it to form locator 16. A claim edit requiring a discharge hour whenever patient status indicates discharge will catch gaps. Pair it with an admission-hour check, since interface problems usually affect both. For more on institutional data denials, see our CARC 16 guide.

Codes that may appear with N317

  • CO-16 (Claim/service lacks information or has submission/billing error(s).): Missing or invalid information; N317 names the discharge hour.
  • N46 (Missing/incomplete/invalid admission hour.): The admission hour is missing or invalid.
  • N318 (Missing/incomplete/invalid discharge or end of care date.): The discharge or end-of-care date is missing or invalid.
  • MA43 (Missing/incomplete/invalid patient status.): The patient status (discharge status) is missing or invalid.

N317 FAQ

Where does the discharge hour go?

UB-04 form locator 16. On the 837I, the discharge hour travels with the discharge information for the stay.

How is it formatted?

UB-04 conventions use a two-digit hour code representing the hour of discharge. Your billing system or clearinghouse translates it for electronic claims.

Is it needed on interim bills?

Generally the discharge hour applies when the patient has been discharged. Interim bills for patients still in the facility usually don't include one, but payer rules vary.