HL7 DON Segment: Donation

The DON (Donation) segment was introduced in HL7 v2.7 and carries the details of a single blood donation event — donation identification number (DIN), donation type, phlebotomy times, eligibility, intended-recipient information for directed donations, phlebotomy status, and staff review. It travels with BUI in blood-bank product status messages and is also used in donor master-file and registration workflows.

Purpose

DON binds a physical blood unit to the donation event that produced it. Where BUI describes the unit's intrinsic attributes, DON records the act of donation: who collected it, when phlebotomy started and ended, whether the donation was autologous or directed, whether the donor was eligible, and whether the donation was accepted at final review.

Used in

BPS — Blood Product Dispense Status — DON accompanies BUI to convey the donation origin of each unit.
Blood-bank donor master-file and registration messages (MFN, ADT-style donor enrollment in some implementations).
Custom donor management workflows between donor-recruitment systems and the blood-bank LIS.

Field-by-field reference

Source: HAPI HL7v2 v2.8.1 javadocs (DON) for sequence, name, data type, and repetition. Length is not published in the javadocs (—); Required and Table # are filled from the HL7 v2 standard where well-established.

Seq	Name	Data Type	Length	Req	Repeat	Table #	Description
DON-1	Donation Identification Number – DIN	ei	—	R	—	—	Unique DIN assigned to the donation.
DON-2	Donation Type	cne	—	O	—	—	Allogeneic, autologous, directed, or research.
DON-3	Phlebotomy Start Date/Time	dtm	—	O	—	—	Timestamp the venous draw began.
DON-4	Phlebotomy End Date/Time	dtm	—	O	—	—	Timestamp the venous draw ended.
DON-5	Donation Duration	nm	—	O	—	—	Elapsed phlebotomy time, numeric.
DON-6	Donation Duration Units	cne	—	O	—	—	Units for the duration value.
DON-7	Intended Procedure Type	cne	—	O	Y	—	Procedure planned at draw start.
DON-8	Actual Procedure Type	cne	—	O	Y	—	Procedure actually performed.
DON-9	Donor Eligibility Flag	id	—	O	—	[HL70136]	Y/N eligibility outcome at screening.
DON-10	Donor Eligibility Procedure Type	cne	—	O	Y	—	Eligibility screening procedure used.
DON-11	Donor Eligibility Date	dtm	—	O	—	—	Date eligibility determination was made.
DON-12	Process Interruption	cne	—	O	—	—	Whether the donation was interrupted.
DON-13	Process Interruption Reason	cne	—	O	—	—	Coded reason for any interruption.
DON-14	Phlebotomy Issue	cne	—	O	Y	—	Coded phlebotomy complications.
DON-15	Intended Recipient Blood Relative	id	—	O	—	[HL70136]	Directed donation relative flag.
DON-16	Intended Recipient Name	xpn	—	O	—	—	Name of directed-donation recipient.
DON-17	Intended Recipient DOB	dtm	—	O	—	—	Date of birth of intended recipient.
DON-18	Intended Recipient Facility	xon	—	O	—	—	Facility where recipient will be treated.
DON-19	Intended Recipient Procedure Date	dtm	—	O	—	—	Planned procedure date for the recipient.
DON-20	Intended Recipient Ordering Provider	xpn	—	O	—	—	Ordering provider for the directed unit.
DON-21	Phlebotomy Status	cne	—	O	—	—	Final status of the phlebotomy event.
DON-22	Arm Stick	cne	—	O	—	—	Coded indication of arm-stick attempts.
DON-23	Bleed Start Phlebotomist	xpn	—	O	—	—	Phlebotomist who started the draw.
DON-24	Bleed End Phlebotomist	xpn	—	O	—	—	Phlebotomist who ended the draw.
DON-25	Aphaeresis Type Machine	st	—	O	—	—	Apheresis machine type, free text.
DON-26	Aphaeresis Machine Serial Number	st	—	O	—	—	Serial number of the apheresis machine.
DON-27	Donor Reaction	id	—	O	—	[HL70136]	Y/N donor adverse-reaction flag.
DON-28	Final Review Staff ID	xpn	—	O	—	—	Reviewer's name for final acceptance.
DON-29	Final Review Date/Time	dtm	—	O	—	—	Timestamp of the final review.
DON-30	Number of Tubes Collected	nm	—	O	—	—	Count of sample tubes drawn.
DON-31	Donation Sample Identifier	ei	—	O	Y	—	Identifiers of sample tubes collected.
DON-32	Donation Accept Staff	xcn	—	O	—	—	Staff who accepted the donation.
DON-33	Donation Material Review Staff	xcn	—	O	Y	—	Staff who reviewed materials post-donation.

Most-used fields

DON-1 Donation Identification Number (DIN) — the cross-reference key that ties DON to BUI and BPX.
DON-2 Donation Type — autologous, allogeneic, directed, drives downstream eligibility rules.
DON-3 / DON-4 Phlebotomy Start/End — primary timestamps used for traceability.
DON-9 Donor Eligibility Flag — gating field for whether the unit can be released.
DON-21 Phlebotomy Status — final phlebotomy outcome (successful, terminated).
DON-27 Donor Reaction — flags adverse events that require follow-up.

Version differences

HL7 v2.7 — DON introduced with the same 33 fields described above.
HL7 v2.7.1, v2.8, v2.8.1 — no structural changes; HAPI v2.8.1 javadoc shows the identical field list and data types.
HL7 v2.8.2 — field set remains stable; minor narrative clarifications only.

Common mistakes

Confusing DON-1 (DIN) with BUI-2 (unit identifier) — they are often equal but conceptually distinct (donation vs. resulting unit). Engines that overwrite one with the other lose traceability when a donation produces multiple components.
Sending DON-3 / DON-4 without an offset — DTM should carry the timezone for cross-site donations.
Populating directed-donation fields (DON-15 through DON-20) for allogeneic donations — these belong only to autologous or directed flows.
Treating DON-7 / DON-8 as scalar — they repeat; flattening them drops procedure history.
Using free text in DON-2 — downstream eligibility engines depend on a coded value.

Examples

Minimal:

DON|W123426789012^^^RedCrossBB^DIN|ALLO^Allogeneic^HL70484

Fully populated:

DON|W123426789012^^^RedCrossBB^DIN|ALLO^Allogeneic^HL70484|20260610081500-0500|20260610082312-0500|8|min^minute^UCUM|WB^Whole Blood^HL70485|WB^Whole Blood^HL70485|Y|HQ^Health Questionnaire^HL70486|20260610080000-0500|N||||||||||OK^Successful^HL70487|L1^Left Arm First^HL70488|SMITH^J^P^^^^RN|SMITH^J^P^^^^RN|||N|REVIEWER^MARIA^L^^^^MD|20260610094000-0500|6|T-44120001^^^RedCrossBB&2.16.840.1.113883.19.5&ISO~T-44120002^^^RedCrossBB&2.16.840.1.113883.19.5&ISO|99812^ACCEPTOR^DREW^^^^^^MERCY^^^^EI|99877^MATERIALREV^KAY^^^^^^MERCY^^^^EI

Annotated breakdown:

DON                                              Segment ID
|W123426789012^^^RedCrossBB^DIN                  DON-1   Donation Identification Number (DIN)
|ALLO^Allogeneic^HL70484                         DON-2   Donation Type
|20260610081500-0500                             DON-3   Phlebotomy Start Date/Time
|20260610082312-0500                             DON-4   Phlebotomy End Date/Time
|8                                               DON-5   Donation Duration
|min^minute^UCUM                                 DON-6   Donation Duration Units
|WB^Whole Blood^HL70485                          DON-7   Intended Procedure Type (repeating)
|WB^Whole Blood^HL70485                          DON-8   Actual Procedure Type (repeating)
|Y                                               DON-9   Donor Eligibility Flag
|HQ^Health Questionnaire^HL70486                 DON-10  Donor Eligibility Procedure Type
|20260610080000-0500                             DON-11  Donor Eligibility Date
|N                                               DON-12  Process Interruption
|                                                DON-13  Process Interruption Reason
|                                                DON-14  Phlebotomy Issue
|                                                DON-15  Intended Recipient Blood Relative
|                                                DON-16  Intended Recipient Name
|                                                DON-17  Intended Recipient DOB
|                                                DON-18  Intended Recipient Facility
|                                                DON-19  Intended Recipient Procedure Date
|                                                DON-20  Intended Recipient Ordering Provider
|OK^Successful^HL70487                           DON-21  Phlebotomy Status
|L1^Left Arm First^HL70488                       DON-22  Arm Stick
|SMITH^J^P^^^^RN                                 DON-23  Bleed Start Phlebotomist
|SMITH^J^P^^^^RN                                 DON-24  Bleed End Phlebotomist
|                                                DON-25  Aphaeresis Type Machine
|                                                DON-26  Aphaeresis Machine Serial Number
|N                                               DON-27  Donor Reaction
|REVIEWER^MARIA^L^^^^MD                          DON-28  Final Review Staff ID
|20260610094000-0500                             DON-29  Final Review Date/Time
|6                                               DON-30  Number of Tubes Collected
|T-44120001^...~T-44120002^...                   DON-31  Donation Sample Identifier (repeating)
|99812^ACCEPTOR^DREW^...                         DON-32  Donation Accept Staff
|99877^MATERIALREV^KAY^...                       DON-33  Donation Material Review Staff (repeating)

In context — BPS^O29 blood-bank product dispense status carrying DON and BUI:

MSH|^~&|TXM|MERCY^2.16.840.1.113883.19.5.99999.1^ISO|LIS|MERCY|20260610100000||BPS^O29^BPS_O29|MSG00051|P|2.8.1
PID|1||MR884412^^^MERCY^MR||TESTPATIENT^ALEX^Q||19720508|F
ORC|SC|TR-7751|||CM
BPO|1|E0336^RBC LR^HL70435|1|U^unit^UCUM
BPX|1|DI|W123426789012^^^RedCrossBB^DIN|RC
BUI|1|W123426789012^^^RedCrossBB^DIN|E0336^RBC LR^HL70435|312|g^gram^UCUM|285|mL^milliliter^UCUM
DON|W123426789012^^^RedCrossBB^DIN|ALLO^Allogeneic^HL70484|20260610081500-0500|20260610082312-0500|8|min^minute^UCUM|WB^Whole Blood^HL70485|WB^Whole Blood^HL70485|Y|||N||||||||||OK^Successful^HL70487

In context — directed donation for a named recipient:

MSH|^~&|BB|MERCY|LIS|MERCY|20260610110200||BPS^O29^BPS_O29|MSG00052|P|2.8.1
PID|1||MR884999^^^MERCY^MR||DOEPATIENT^RIVER^J||20010214|M
ORC|SC|TR-7752|||CM
BPO|1|E0336^RBC LR^HL70435|1|U^unit^UCUM
BPX|1|DI|W123426789777^^^RedCrossBB^DIN|RC
BUI|1|W123426789777^^^RedCrossBB^DIN|E0336^RBC LR^HL70435|310|g^gram^UCUM|280|mL^milliliter^UCUM
DON|W123426789777^^^RedCrossBB^DIN|DIR^Directed^HL70484|20260610090000-0500|20260610091000-0500|10|min^minute^UCUM|WB^Whole Blood^HL70485|WB^Whole Blood^HL70485|Y|||N|||Y|DOEPATIENT^RIVER^J|20010214|MERCY HOSPITAL^^^^^MERCY^XX^^^MRCY01|20260618|ORDPROV^PAT^L^^^^MD|OK^Successful^HL70487

FHIR mapping

No segment-level ConceptMap is published in the v2-to-FHIR IG for DON. Conceptually, DON attributes map across two resources:

DON-1 → BiologicallyDerivedProduct.identifier (DIN) and BiologicallyDerivedProduct.collection.collectedDateTime
DON-2 → BiologicallyDerivedProduct.collection.procedure or product category extension
DON-3 / DON-4 → BiologicallyDerivedProduct.collection.collectedPeriod
DON-9 / DON-11 → donor eligibility extension on Patient (donor)
DON-15 through DON-20 → directed-donation extension referencing Patient
DON-21 → BiologicallyDerivedProduct.status (mapped via value-set)
DON-23 / DON-24 / DON-28 / DON-32 / DON-33 → BiologicallyDerivedProduct.collection.collector and audit references to Practitioner

Mapping at the resource level rather than the segment level is consistent with how donor and blood-product workflows are modeled in FHIR R4/R5.

Engine considerations

Engines that pre-date v2.7 (Mirth Connect ≤ 2.x, legacy Cloverleaf tables) parse DON as a Z-segment unless upgraded to a v2.7+ profile.
HAPI HL7v2 v2.8.1 generates ca.uhn.hl7v2.model.v281.segment.DON with strongly-typed accessors; expect Type[] returns for DON-7, DON-8, DON-10, DON-14, DON-31, and DON-33 because they repeat.
DON-31 carries multiple sample IDs separated by ~ — engines that treat repetitions as a single string lose downstream sample lookup.
DTM fields (DON-3, DON-4, DON-11, DON-17, DON-19, DON-29) carry optional timezone offsets; engines that strip the offset can shift donation timestamps by hours when crossing sites.
Directed-donation fields (DON-15 through DON-20) are PHI about the recipient — apply the same de-identification rules to DON that the engine applies to PID.

How Vorro parses and produces DON

Vorro treats DON as the source-of-truth for donation provenance. On inbound:

DON-1 (DIN) is normalized and indexed; we cross-reference it against any sibling BUI-2 and BPX-3 in the same product group and flag mismatches as integrity errors.
DON-2, DON-7, DON-8, DON-21, and DON-22 are validated against HL70484, HL70485, HL70487, and HL70488 respectively, with unmapped codes routed to a curation queue.
DON-3 / DON-4 are required to carry an explicit timezone offset; values without an offset are accepted but tagged with a soft warning and normalized to facility-local time.
DON-15 through DON-20 are recognized as PHI about a non-PID subject and routed through the same de-identification pipeline as PID when configured.
DON-31's repeating sample IDs are exploded into individual records so downstream tube-tracking systems can resolve each tube independently.

On outbound, Vorro produces DON with the DIN-bearing EI in DON-1, populates DON-7 and DON-8 as repeating CNEs (never collapsed), and always emits DTM fields with a timezone offset.

Sources

← Back to HL7 v2 Guide