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N359 Remark Code: Patient Height Missing or Invalid

N359 means the patient's height was missing, incomplete, or invalid on a claim where the payer requires it, for example to calculate dosing, body size, or eligibility for a service or item.

Quick facts

Code
N359 (RARC N359)
Status
Active In use since November 18, 2005.
Code set
Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes
  • CO (Contractual Obligation): A correctable data problem. The provider reports a valid height and resubmits; the patient is not billed for the adjustment.
Official description
Missing/incomplete/invalid height.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What N359 means

Most claims never ask for the patient’s height. A few do, because the payer needs it to calculate something: body surface area for dosing, body mass index for eligibility, or adequacy measures for dialysis. N359 says the height was required and was missing, partial, or outside a plausible range.

It usually explains CARC 16. The service itself hasn’t been judged yet; the payer can’t process it until it has a usable height.

Common causes

  • Not captured at the visit. The height was never recorded in the chart or was not pulled into billing.
  • Wrong unit. Inches were reported where centimeters were expected, or the reverse.
  • Implausible value. A typo produced a number outside the payer’s valid range.
  • Missing code. On institutional claims, the height was entered but not with the value code the payer requires.
  • Stale data. An old measurement was reused when the payer wants a recent one.

How to fix it

  1. Pull the patient’s height from the clinical record for the relevant period.
  2. Convert it to the unit the payer specifies and check the number is reasonable for the patient.
  3. Report it where the payer expects it, which on institutional claims is usually a value code, and on other claims the field or attachment named in the payer’s guide.
  4. Submit a corrected claim with frequency code 7 and the original claim number.

How to prevent it

For service lines where your payers require height, add it as a mandatory field in the encounter or treatment record. Map the unit conversion in your billing system so staff don’t convert by hand, and review the payer’s requirement whenever you add a new service type that uses weight-based or size-based calculations.

Codes that may appear with N359

  • CO-16 (Claim/service lacks information or has submission/billing error(s).): Required information is missing; N359 identifies the patient's height.
  • N207 (Missing/incomplete/invalid weight.): Used when the patient's weight is missing or invalid, often required alongside height.
  • M123 (Missing/incomplete/invalid name, strength, or dosage of the drug furnished.): Covers a missing or invalid drug name, strength, or dosage.
  • N342 (Missing/incomplete/invalid test performed date.): Addresses the date a qualifying test was performed.

N359 FAQ

Which claims need a patient height?

Institutional dialysis claims commonly report height and weight, and some payers ask for it on certain DME, nutrition, or weight-based drug claims. Requirements vary by payer and claim type.

What units should I use?

Follow the payer's instructions. Many institutional formats expect centimeters for height, and using the wrong unit can make an otherwise correct value look invalid.

Where does height go on an institutional claim?

It is typically reported with a value code in the value code fields. Check the payer's manual for the exact code and format.