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X12 271 response guide

Party hierarchy

A party hierarchy describes which person or organization a response context refers to. HL supplies a hierarchical level and optional parent identifier; NM1 identifies the party associated with that level.

HL parent-child relationships

Section titled “HL parent-child relationships”

The single-benefit response contains three levels:

HL*1**20*1~
HL*2*1*21*1~
HL*3*2*22*0~
  • HL01 numbers each level: 1, 2, and 3.
  • HL02 identifies the parent. It is empty at the top level, then points to level 1 and level 2 in the following segments.
  • HL03 identifies the kind of level. The values shown are information source (20), information receiver (21), and subscriber (22).
  • HL04 indicates whether the level has children. The subscriber level uses 0 because it has no child level in this example.

See the public HL field reference.

NM1 identifies the party

Section titled “NM1 identifies the party”

An NM1 segment identifies the party at the current level:

NM1*PR*2*CEDAR VALLEY HEALTH PLAN~
NM1*1P*2*OAK STREET MEDICAL GROUP~
NM1*IL*1*REED*JORDAN~
  • NM101 identifies the party’s role: payer (PR), provider (1P), or insured or subscriber (IL) in these examples.
  • NM102=2 identifies the payer and provider as organizations. NM102=1 identifies the subscriber as a person.
  • NM103 carries an organization name or a person’s family name. NM104 carries the person’s given name when present.

See the public NM1 field reference.

The sequence shows one hierarchy. Read HL and NM1 together with the transaction profile and companion guide to determine which relationships and identity rules apply to your route.