MSH - Message Header (HL7 v2.7.1)
Versions: v2.3 v2.3.1 v2.4 v2.5.1 v2.6 v2.7.1
The MSH segment (Message Header) has 25 fields in HL7 v2.7.1. Fields are addressed as
MSH-n; composite fields break into components MSH-n.m. Paste a message into the
parser to see every field annotated with this table.
| # | Name | Type | Len | Opt | Repeats | Table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Field Separator | ST | 1 | Required | No | |
| 2 | Encoding Characters | ST | 5 | Required | No | |
| 3 | Sending Application | HD | Optional | No | 0361 | |
| 4 | Sending Facility | HD | Optional | No | 0362 | |
| 5 | Receiving Application | HD | Optional | No | 0361 | |
| 6 | Receiving Facility | HD | Optional | No | 0362 | |
| 7 | Date/Time of Message | DTM | Required | No | ||
| 8 | Security | ST | Optional | No | ||
| 9 | Message Type | MSG | Required | No | ||
| 10 | Message Control ID | ST | 199 | Required | No | |
| 11 | Processing ID | PT | Required | No | ||
| 12 | Version ID | VID | Required | No | ||
| 13 | Sequence Number | NM | Optional | No | ||
| 14 | Continuation Pointer | ST | Optional | No | ||
| 15 | Accept Acknowledgment Type | ID | 2 | Optional | No | 0155 |
| 16 | Application Acknowledgment Type | ID | 2 | Optional | No | 0155 |
| 17 | Country Code | ID | 3 | Optional | No | 0399 |
| 18 | Character Set | ID | 15 | Optional | Yes | 0211 |
| 19 | Principal Language Of Message | CWE | Optional | No | ||
| 20 | Alternate Character Set Handling Scheme | ID | 13 | Optional | No | 0356 |
| 21 | Message Profile Identifier | EI | Optional | Yes | ||
| 22 | Sending Responsible Organization | XON | Optional | No | ||
| 23 | Receiving Responsible Organization | XON | Optional | No | ||
| 24 | Sending Network Address | HD | Optional | No | ||
| 25 | Receiving Network Address | HD | Optional | No |
Synthetic example
MSH|^~\&|PAS|NORTHSIDE|INTAKE|BASAL|20260823093000+1000||ADT^A01^ADT_A01|NS20260823093000001|P|2.5.1|||AL|NE|AU