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N341 Remark Code: Surgery Date Missing or Invalid

N341 means the date of a related surgery was missing, incomplete, or invalid. Payers use it to connect a service or item to a surgical procedure, for example post-operative care, supplies, or eyewear after cataract surgery.

Quick facts

Code
N341 (RARC N341)
Status
Active In use since December 2, 2004.
Code set
Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes
  • CO (Contractual Obligation): The claim was denied because the surgery date could not be used. The provider corrects it; the patient is not billed for this adjustment.
Official description
Missing/incomplete/invalid surgery date.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What N341 means

Some services only make sense in relation to an operation: eyewear after cataract surgery, wound supplies after a procedure, or rehabilitation that follows a joint replacement. To pay them, the payer needs to know when the surgery happened. N341 says the surgery date was missing, incomplete, or illogical, for example set after the service being billed.

N341 generally explains CARC 16. If the payer cannot tie the service to a qualifying surgery at all, CARC 107 may appear instead.

Common causes

  • A supplier or optical shop billed post-surgical items without asking the surgeon’s office for the date.
  • The date of the consultation or pre-op visit was reported instead of the date of surgery.
  • The patient had surgery on both eyes or both sides on different dates, and the claim cites the wrong one.
  • The surgery date was placed in narrative text the payer’s system does not read.

How to fix it

  1. Obtain the operative report or a letter from the surgeon’s office confirming the date and the procedure.
  2. If more than one surgery could apply, match the date to the item billed (for example, the correct eye or limb).
  3. Report the date in the field or format the payer designates. If it asks for box 19, keep the wording short and clear.
  4. Send a corrected claim with frequency code 7 and the original claim number.
  5. If the service falls outside the payer’s post-surgical window, the corrected date will not resolve the denial, and you should check whether the item was billable at all.

How to prevent it

Make the surgery date part of the order intake for any post-surgical item or service. Suppliers can ask the referring surgeon to include the date on the order, and practices can add a prompt in charge entry whenever a service is linked to a prior procedure.

Codes that may appear with N341

  • CO-16 (Claim/service lacks information or has submission/billing error(s).): Information is missing; N341 identifies the surgery date.
  • CO-107 (The related or qualifying claim/service was not identified on this claim.): The related or qualifying service was not identified, which the surgery date is meant to establish.
  • N427 (Payment for eyeglasses or contact lenses can be made only after cataract surgery.): States that eyeglasses or contact lenses are payable only after cataract surgery, a common case where the surgery date is needed.
  • N214 (Missing/incomplete/invalid history of the related initial surgical procedure(s).): Used when the history of the related initial surgical procedure is missing or invalid.
  • N303 (Missing/incomplete/invalid principal procedure date.): Covers the principal procedure date on institutional claims.

N341 FAQ

Which claims need a surgery date?

Common examples include post-cataract eyewear, surgical dressings and supplies, some post-operative therapy, and services during a global surgical period billed by another provider. Requirements vary by payer.

Where does the surgery date go?

Payers differ. Some want it in the additional claim information field (box 19 on the CMS-1500), others in a specific date field on the 837. Check the payer's billing instructions.

What if my practice did not perform the surgery?

Get the date from the operative report or discharge paperwork of the surgeon or facility that did.