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N788 Remark Code: TPA or Review Organization Info Alert

N788 is an alert that the third-party administrator or review organization handling part of this claim did not receive the required information. The claim may be held, reduced, or denied until that entity gets what it asked for.

Code: N788 (RARC N788)
Status: Active In use since March 1, 2017; last modified July 1, 2018.
Code set: Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes: CO (Contractual Obligation): When an adjustment accompanies N788, it is usually the provider's to resolve by supplying the information.
OA (Other Adjustment): Some payers use OA while the claim waits on the outside organization.
Official description: Alert: The third-party administrator/review organization did not receive the required information.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified: September 24, 2026 against the official X12 list.

What N788 means

Many health plans outsource parts of their work. A third-party administrator may run claims for a self-funded employer plan, and a review organization may handle utilization or medical reviews. N788 tells you one of these outside entities did not get information it required for this claim.

It is labelled an alert, but it often explains a hold or denial reported with CARC 228 or CARC 226.

What to do

Identify the organization involved from the remittance, the patient’s card, or a call to the payer.
Ask the organization exactly what it needed and where to send it.
Send the information with the claim number and patient identifiers, and keep proof of delivery.
Confirm with the payer when the claim will be reprocessed, and watch appeal and filing deadlines.
If the request was sent to the patient, help them respond.

Codes that may appear with N788

CO-228 (Denied for failure of this provider, another provider or the subscriber to supply requested information to a previous payer for their adjudication): Denied because the provider, another provider, or the subscriber did not supply requested information to a previous payer or review organization.
CO-226 (Information requested from the Billing/Rendering Provider was not provided or not provided timely or was insufficient/incomplete.): Information requested from the billing or rendering provider was not provided.

N175 (Missing review organization approval.): The review organization's approval is missing.
N10 (Adjustment based on the findings of a review organization/professional consult/manual adjudication/medical advisor/dental advisor/peer review.): Adjustment based on the findings of a review organization.
N179 (Additional information has been requested from the member.): Additional information has been requested from the member.

N788 FAQ

Who is the third-party administrator or review organization?

It might be a TPA managing a self-funded plan, a utilization review company, or another vendor the payer uses. The remittance, plan card, or payer can tell you.

What information is usually missing?

Often clinical records, an authorization request, or a questionnaire. Ask the organization directly what it needs.

Should I resubmit the claim?

Usually not until the organization has the information. Then follow the payer's instructions for reprocessing.

Important: read before using this information

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