Section title: Requests for Interpretation
RFI #
2590
Multiple instances of race and ethnicity on the 834
Description

The X12 834 allows for the reporting of race and ethnicity in the DMG05 field, and the composite repeats 10 times.  Per CMS guidance, multiple race and ethnicity values can be reported for a single patient.  How should race and ethnicity be reported if the number of values is greater than 10?

Scenario

Patient reports they are four different races and seven ethnicities.  The composite for DMG only repeats 10 times.  How do you report the 11th value?

RFI Response

The 005010X220A1 834 only allows for 10 repeats of the 2100A DMG05.  To remain compliant with the standard the maximum repeats cannot be exceeded.  The maximum number of repeats of DMG05 has been increased to 25 in the future versions of the standard.

DOCUMENT ID
005010X220