2.2 Message Control Segments

The segments used to control the messages that are sent through the ADT system are the MSH and the MSA. The MSH segment defines the intent, source, destination, and some specifics of the syntax of a message. If nothing causes the message to be canceled, the control segment MSA acknowledges receipt of the incoming message. When the receipt of the message is completed, the responding system sends an acknowledgment to the initiating system. This acknowledgment means that the message was placed in some type of secure environment and the receiving system commits to processing it in a reasonable amount of time.

3.0 ADT (Admission. Discharge, and Transfer) Transactions

All systems that are attached to the network require information about patients. Therefore, the ADT transaction set is one of the most commonly used, because it provides for the transmission of new or updated demographic and visit information.

Most often, the information is entered into an ADT system, passed to the nursing, ancillary and financial systems in the form of an unsolicited update to a record-oriented query.