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N318 Remark Code: Discharge or End of Care Date

N318 means the date the patient was discharged, or care otherwise ended, was missing, incomplete, or invalid. The payer couldn't confirm when the stay or episode of care concluded.

Quick facts

Code
N318 (RARC N318)
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 adjustment is not billed to the patient.
Official description
Missing/incomplete/invalid discharge or end of care date.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What N318 means

Every stay or episode of care eventually ends, and many payers need that end date to calculate length of stay, close an episode payment, or confirm that services billed fall inside the episode. N318 says the date that care ended wasn’t on the claim or didn’t agree with the rest of it.

It is typically reported with CARC 16.

Common causes

  • Final bill without a discharge date. The patient status shows a discharge, but no discharge date was reported.
  • Mismatched dates. The discharge date differs from the statement through date, or falls before the admission date.
  • Episode closed early. For home health or hospice, the end-of-care date is earlier than the last billed visit.
  • Transfers. A patient transferred to another facility, and the transfer date was reported inconsistently across the claim.
  • Late corrections. The discharge was reversed or changed in the ADT system after the claim was created.

How to fix it

  1. Confirm the actual discharge or end-of-care date from the clinical record.
  2. Check that the admission date, statement period, patient status, and discharge hour are consistent with it.
  3. Make sure all billed services fall on or before the end-of-care date.
  4. Submit a replacement claim with frequency code 7 and the original claim number.

How to prevent it

Tie claim creation to the finalized discharge event in the ADT system, so the date is locked before billing. Build edits that compare the discharge date to the statement period and the last service date. In home health and hospice, reconcile the discharge date against the visit log before the final claim drops.

Codes that may appear with N318

  • CO-16 (Claim/service lacks information or has submission/billing error(s).): Missing or invalid information; N318 names the discharge or end-of-care date.
  • MA40 (Missing/incomplete/invalid admission date.): The admission date is missing or invalid.
  • N317 (Missing/incomplete/invalid discharge hour.): The discharge hour is missing or invalid.
  • N50 (Missing/incomplete/invalid discharge information.): Discharge information is missing, incomplete, or invalid.
  • N332 (Missing/incomplete/invalid prior hospital discharge date.): The prior hospital discharge date is missing or invalid.

N318 FAQ

Which claims need a discharge or end-of-care date?

Inpatient facility claims at discharge, and episode-based services such as home health or hospice when care ends. Some professional services tied to a discharge may also need it.

How does it relate to the statement period?

On a final inpatient claim, the discharge date typically matches the statement 'through' date. A mismatch is a common reason for N318.

What about a patient who died?

Report the discharge status that reflects death and the date care ended. Payer rules on related dates vary, so check the instructions.