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N889 Remark Code: Claim Processed in Real Time

N889 is an alert that the claim was originally adjudicated in real time and the payer already sent a real-time 835 response. The remittance you are looking at relates to a claim you may have seen results for at the point of service.

Code: N889 (RARC N889)
Status: Active In use since November 1, 2023.
Code set: Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes: CO (Contractual Obligation): Contractual adjustments from the real-time adjudication, repeated or confirmed on this remittance.
PR (Patient Responsibility): Patient responsibility determined in real time, which you may already have collected at the visit.
Official description: Alert: This claim was originally processed in real-time, and we sent a real-time 835 response.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified: September 24, 2026 against the official X12 list.

What N889 means

Some payers can adjudicate a claim while the patient is still at the front desk and return an 835 on the spot. That lets you collect the exact patient responsibility at checkout. N889 marks a later remittance for the same claim so you know it was already reported in real time.

What to do

Look up the real-time response for the claim in your system.
Compare the amounts. If they match and you already posted, skip posting or mark this remittance informational.
Adjust patient balances if the numbers changed, including refunds for any overcollection at the visit.
Tune your posting rules so real-time and batch remittances for the same claim are matched automatically.

Codes that may appear with N889

CO-45 (Charge exceeds fee schedule/maximum allowable or contracted/legislated fee arrangement.): Standard contractual adjustment that can appear on any adjudicated claim, including real-time ones.
PR-2 / PR-3 (Coinsurance and co-payment amounts.): Patient amounts that may have been collected at the point of service based on the real-time response.

N512 (Alert: This is the initial remit of a non-NCPDP claim originally submitted real-time without change to the adjudication.): Initial remittance of a real-time claim with no change to the adjudication.
N513 (Alert: This is the initial remit of a non-NCPDP claim originally submitted real-time with a change to the adjudication.): Initial remittance of a real-time claim where the adjudication changed.
N508 (Alert: This real-time claim adjudication response represents the member responsibility to the provider for services reported.): The real-time response represents what the member owes the provider.

N889 FAQ

Should I post this remittance?

Only if you have not already posted the real-time 835. If you did, reconcile the two to avoid posting the payment or adjustment twice.

What if the amounts differ from the real-time response?

Treat the difference as a change to the adjudication and check whether patient balances need to be corrected or refunded.

Why do payers send a second remittance?

The real-time response supports point-of-service collection. The batch remittance ties the claim to the actual payment and your regular posting workflow.

Important: read before using this information

This page is general educational information about a standard industry code set. It is not medical billing, coding, legal, reimbursement, or compliance advice, and it does not create a professional or advisory relationship with ClaimsRevenue.

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