Overview
The CON (Consent) segment captures a single consent transaction associated with a patient, subject, or other party in an HL7 v2 message. A consent transaction documents what was agreed to, by whom, when, how the agreement was witnessed, and any subject-specific modifiers such as language of consent, mode of expression (verbal, written, electronic), and a non-subject signer where applicable.
CON is most commonly seen in registration flows (ADT), order workflows that require treatment consent, research enrollment under clinical trial messages, and disclosure or release-of-information transactions. Within those flows, CON travels alongside the patient identity segments and the access-restriction segment ARV so that consent and privacy directives can be reconciled by the receiver.
Used in
CON is carried in patient registration and consent flows. The most frequent host is ADT, where CON accompanies PID and the access-restriction segment ARV. CON is also referenced from research, billing, and order-management messages whenever a documented consent decision is required before downstream processing.
Field-by-field
The table below lists each field defined for CON in HL7 v2.5.1. Lengths are shown as "—" because the HAPI javadoc does not publish per-field lengths for this segment; implementations should treat lengths as system-dependent and consult the published HL7 v2.5.1 chapter for absolute maxima. Req marks fields the standard requires (Set ID and Consent Type). Repeat is "Y" where the javadoc models the field as a repeating accessor. Table # cites well-established HL7-defined tables.
| Seq | Name | Data Type | Length | Req | Repeat | Table # | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CON-1 | Set ID - CON | si | — | R | — | — | Sequence number of this consent instance. |
| CON-2 | Consent Type | ce | — | R | — | [HL70496] | Type of consent being recorded. |
| CON-3 | Consent Form ID and Version | st | — | O | — | — | Identifier and version of the consent form. |
| CON-4 | Consent Form Number | ei | — | O | — | — | Unique number assigned to this signed form. |
| CON-5 | Consent Text | ft | — | O | — | — | Full text or summary of what was consented to. |
| CON-6 | Subject-specific Consent Text | ft | — | O | — | — | Free text tailored to this subject's situation. |
| CON-7 | Consent Background | ft | — | O | — | — | Background information presented with consent. |
| CON-8 | Subject-specific Consent Background | ft | — | O | — | — | Background tailored to this subject. |
| CON-9 | Consenter-imposed limitations | ft | — | O | — | — | Restrictions added by the consenting party. |
| CON-10 | Consent Mode | ce | — | O | — | [HL70497] | Verbal, written, or electronic. |
| CON-11 | Consent Status | ce | — | O | — | [HL70498] | Active, refused, rescinded, pending. |
| CON-12 | Consent Discussion Date/Time | ts | — | O | — | — | When consent was discussed with the subject. |
| CON-13 | Consent Decision Date/Time | ts | — | O | — | — | When the consent decision was recorded. |
| CON-14 | Consent Effective Date/Time | ts | — | O | — | — | When the consent takes effect. |
| CON-15 | Consent End Date/Time | ts | — | O | — | — | When the consent expires or terminates. |
| CON-16 | Subject Competence Indicator | id | — | O | — | — | Y/N flag for subject competence. |
| CON-17 | Translator Assistance Indicator | id | — | O | — | — | Y/N flag for translator involvement. |
| CON-18 | Language Translated To | ce | — | O | — | — | Language used to explain the consent. |
| CON-19 | Informational Material Supplied Indicator | id | — | O | — | — | Y/N flag for handouts provided. |
| CON-20 | Consent Bypass Reason | ce | — | O | — | — | Reason consent was bypassed. |
| CON-21 | Consent Disclosure Level | id | — | O | — | — | Disclosure level granted by the subject. |
| CON-22 | Consent Non-disclosure Reason | ce | — | O | — | — | Reason information was not disclosed. |
| CON-23 | Non-subject Consenter Reason | ce | — | O | — | — | Why someone other than subject consented. |
| CON-24 | Consenter ID | xpn | — | O | Y | — | Identifier of the consenter (name). |
| CON-25 | Relationship to Subject | is | — | O | Y | — | Consenter's relationship to the subject. |
Examples
Minimal
CON|1|001^Treatment Consent^HL70496
Fully populated
CON|1|001^Treatment Consent^HL70496|GEN-CONS-v3.2|FORM000789^VORRO|Consent to general medical treatment as outlined on form GEN-CONS-v3.2.|Includes routine imaging and lab draws specific to admission.|Risks, benefits, and alternatives were explained.|Patient asked clarifying questions about contrast imaging.|No coverage for elective procedures without re-consent.|W^Written^HL70497|A^Active^HL70498|20260610090500|20260610091000|20260610091500||20270610091500|Y|N||Y||1||||DOE^JANE^A|SEL^Self
Annotated breakdown
CON | 1 | 001^Treatment Consent^HL70496 | GEN-CONS-v3.2 | FORM000789^VORRO | ...
| | | | | |
| | CON-2 Consent Type (CE,HL70496)| | |
| CON-1 Set ID (SI) |
| CON-3 Consent Form ID and Version (ST)
| CON-4 Consent Form Number (EI)
| CON-5 Consent Text (FT)
CON Segment ID
In-context: ADT^A01 with consent at registration
MSH|^~&|REG|VORRO|EHR|HOSP|20260610091500||ADT^A01^ADT_A01|MSG000010|P|2.5.1
EVN|A01|20260610091500
PID|1||MRN000123^^^VORRO^MR||DOE^JANE^A||19800101|F|||100 Main St^^Austin^TX^78701
PV1|1|I|3W^310^A^VORRO|EL||||||||||||||VN000456
ARV|1|A|RU^Restricted Use^HL70561
CON|1|001^Treatment Consent^HL70496|GEN-CONS-v3.2|FORM000789^VORRO|Consent to general medical treatment.||||||W^Written^HL70497|A^Active^HL70498|20260610091000|20260610091500|20260610091500||20270610091500|Y|N||Y||1||||DOE^JANE^A|SEL^Self
In-context: ADT^A08 with a research-disclosure consent update
MSH|^~&|REG|VORRO|RESEARCH|TRIAL|20260610141500||ADT^A08^ADT_A01|MSG000011|P|2.5.1
EVN|A08|20260610141500
PID|1||MRN000123^^^VORRO^MR||DOE^JANE^A||19800101|F
PV1|1|O|RSCH^001^A^VORRO
CON|1|002^Research Disclosure^HL70496|RES-DISC-v1.1|FORM000901^VORRO|Authorization to share de-identified data with sponsor.|||Patient declines tissue banking.|Tissue samples must not leave the institution.|W^Written^HL70497|A^Active^HL70498|20260610140000|20260610141000|20260610141500||20280610141500|Y|N||Y||2||||DOE^JANE^A|SEL^Self
CON|2|003^Photography/Recording^HL70496|PHOTO-v2.0|FORM000902^VORRO|Authorization to photograph for educational use.||||No social-media distribution.|W^Written^HL70497|A^Active^HL70498|20260610140500|20260610141200|20260610141500||20270610141500|Y|N||Y||1||||DOE^JANE^A|SEL^Self
Notes for implementers
- CON-1 must be unique within the message instance; receivers use it to correlate amendments.
- CON-2 anchors the type of consent; downstream rules typically branch on this value.
- When CON-11 (Consent Status) is "refused" or "rescinded", CON-14 and CON-15 should bracket the period of refusal.
- CON-24 and CON-25 repeat together to capture multiple consenters (for example, parent and guardian).
- Pair CON with ARV when access restrictions accompany the consent decision.
