The ORC segment carries the data common to every order, regardless of what is being ordered. It pairs with a detail segment (OBR for observations/labs, RXO for pharmacy, etc.): ORC holds the order control code, the placer and filler order numbers, who ordered it and when, while the detail segment describes the specific service. ORC-1 (Order Control) is the verb of the message — it says whether this is a new order, a cancellation, a status update, and so on.
Purpose
ORC communicates order-level control information shared across all order types: the action being taken (ORC-1), the placer/filler identifiers that correlate the order across systems, the ordering provider, timing, and the entering organization. It is the common header that precedes an order's type-specific detail segment.
Used in
ORC appears in all order messages: ORM (general orders), OMG/OML/OMP and other OMx order messages, ORU (results, to echo the originating order), RDE/RDS (pharmacy encoded order / dispense), and OMI (imaging). See ORM and ORU.
Field-by-field reference
Source: the Vorro HL7 segment database (extracted from the official v2-to-FHIR IG). R = required (cardinality min ≥ 1). Repeat = field may repeat. Length is not carried by the FHIR source and is shown as —.
| Seq | Name | Data Type | Length | Req | Repeat | Table # | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORC-1 | Order Control | ID | — | R | — | HL70119 | The action: NW new, CA cancel, SC status change, etc. The order verb. |
| ORC-2 | Placer Order Number | EI | — | O | — | — | The placing system's order id. |
| ORC-3 | Filler Order Number | EI | — | O | — | — | The filling system's order id. |
| ORC-4 | Placer Group Number | EI | — | O | — | — | Groups related orders placed together. |
| ORC-5 | Order Status | ID | — | O | — | HL70038 | Status of the order (e.g. IP, CM, CA). |
| ORC-6 | Response Flag | ID | — | O | — | HL70121 | Level of response requested. |
| ORC-7 | Quantity/Timing | TQ | — | O | Y | — | Deprecated; superseded by TQ1/TQ2 in v2.5. |
| ORC-8 | Parent Order | EIP | — | O | Y | — | Links a child order to its parent. |
| ORC-9 | Date/Time of Order Event | DTM | — | O | — | — | When the ORC action occurred. |
| ORC-10 | Entered By | XCN | — | O | Y | — | Who entered the order. |
| ORC-11 | Verified By | XCN | — | O | Y | — | Who verified the order. |
| ORC-12 | Ordering Provider | XCN | — | O | Y | — | The clinician who placed the order. |
| ORC-13 | Enterer's Location | PL | — | O | — | — | Where the order was entered. |
| ORC-14 | Call Back Phone Number | XTN | — | O | Y | — | Phone for order callback. |
| ORC-15 | Order Effective Date/Time | DTM | — | O | — | — | When the order takes effect. |
| ORC-16 | Order Control Code Reason | CWE | — | O | — | HL70949 | Reason for the ORC-1 action. |
| ORC-17 | Entering Organization | CWE | — | O | — | — | Organization entering the order. |
| ORC-18 | Entering Device | CWE | — | O | — | — | Device used to enter the order. |
| ORC-19 | Action By | XCN | — | O | Y | — | Person who took the action. |
| ORC-20 | Advanced Beneficiary Notice Code | CWE | — | O | — | HL70339 | ABN status (US billing). |
| ORC-21 | Ordering Facility Name | XON | — | O | Y | — | Facility that placed the order. |
| ORC-22 | Ordering Facility Address | XAD | — | O | Y | — | Address of the ordering facility. |
| ORC-23 | Ordering Facility Phone Number | XTN | — | O | Y | — | Phone of the ordering facility. |
| ORC-24 | Ordering Provider Address | XAD | — | O | Y | — | Address of the ordering provider. |
| ORC-25 | Order Status Modifier | CWE | — | O | — | HL70950 | Refines ORC-5. |
| ORC-26 | Advanced Beneficiary Notice Override Reason | CWE | — | O | — | HL70552 | Reason an ABN was overridden. |
| ORC-27 | Filler's Expected Availability Date/Time | DTM | — | O | — | — | When the filler expects results. |
| ORC-28 | Confidentiality Code | CWE | — | O | — | — | Confidentiality of the order. |
| ORC-29 | Order Type | CWE | — | O | — | HL70482 | Inpatient vs outpatient order. |
| ORC-30 | Enterer Authorization Mode | CNE | — | O | — | HL70483 | How the enterer was authorized. |
| ORC-31 | Parent Universal Service Identifier | CWE | — | O | — | — | Parent order's service id. |
| ORC-32 | Advanced Beneficiary Notice Date | DT | — | O | — | — | ABN date. |
| ORC-33 | Alternate Placer Order Number | CX | — | O | Y | — | Alternate placer id. |
| ORC-34 | Order Workflow Profile | CWE | — | O | Y | HL70934 | Workflow profile for the order. |
| ORC-35 | Action Code | ID | — | O | — | — | Add/update/delete action on the segment. |
| ORC-36 | Order Status Date Range | DR | — | O | — | — | Period the status applies to. |
| ORC-37 | Order Creation Date/Time | DTM | — | O | — | — | When the order was created. |
| ORC-38 | Filler Order Group Number | EI | — | O | — | — | Filler-assigned group id. |
Most-used fields
- ORC-1 Order Control is the action verb.
NW(new),CA(cancel),OC(order cancelled),SC(status change),RU(replacement) — receivers branch on this before anything else. - ORC-2 Placer Order Number and ORC-3 Filler Order Number are the correlation keys that tie the placing and filling systems' views of the same order together.
- ORC-12 Ordering Provider identifies the responsible clinician and feeds care-team and result-routing logic.
- ORC-5 Order Status reports lifecycle state and is often kept in sync with the detail segment's status.
Version differences (2.3 to 2.8.2)
- 2.5: ORC-7 Quantity/Timing (
TQ) deprecated in favor of the dedicated TQ1/TQ2 segments; new orders should use TQ1. - 2.5/2.6: ORC-29 Order Type, ORC-30 Enterer Authorization Mode, ORC-31 Parent Universal Service Identifier added.
- 2.7+: ORC-32 through ORC-38 added (ABN date, alternate placer order number, workflow profile, action code, status date range, creation date, filler order group number).
- Older receivers ignore trailing fields they do not recognize.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring ORC-1 and inferring intent from the detail segment — the order control code is authoritative.
- Correlating only on ORC-2 when the filler responds on ORC-3 (or vice versa); track both.
- Continuing to populate ORC-7 instead of TQ1 in v2.5+ interfaces.
- Dropping repeating provider fields (ORC-10/11/12/19) to a single value.
Examples
Minimal valid ORC (new order):
ORC|NW|PON12345^MERCYGEN
Fully-populated ORC:
ORC|NW|PON12345^MERCYGEN|FON98765^LAB||IP||||20260609130000|JDOE^DOE^JANE|JVER^VER^JOHN|1234^SMITH^JANE^A^^^MD|3WEST^^^MERCYGEN|^^PH^^^555^5550100|20260609130000
Annotated breakdown of the fully-populated example (selected fields):
ORC ← segment ID
NW ← ORC-1 Order Control (New order)
PON12345^MERCYGEN ← ORC-2 Placer Order Number
FON98765^LAB ← ORC-3 Filler Order Number
IP ← ORC-5 Order Status (In Process)
20260609130000 ← ORC-9 Date/Time of Order Event
JDOE^DOE^JANE ← ORC-10 Entered By
1234^SMITH^JANE^A^^^MD ← ORC-12 Ordering Provider
3WEST^^^MERCYGEN ← ORC-13 Enterer's Location
In-context inside an ORM^O01 (order, ORC + OBR):
MSH|^~&|CPOE|MERCYGEN|LAB|MERCYGEN|20260609130000||ORM^O01^ORM_O01|MSG201|P|2.5.1
PID|1||MR12345^^^MERCYGEN^MR||DOE^JOHN^Q||19800101|M
ORC|NW|PON12345^MERCYGEN|||IP||||20260609130000||1234^SMITH^JANE^A^^^MD
OBR|1|PON12345^MERCYGEN||CBC^Complete Blood Count^L
In-context inside an ORU^R01 (result, ORC echoes the order):
MSH|^~&|LAB|MERCYGEN|EHR|MERCYGEN|20260609150000||ORU^R01^ORU_R01|MSG305|P|2.5.1
PID|1||MR12345^^^MERCYGEN^MR||DOE^JOHN^Q||19800101|M
ORC|RE|PON12345^MERCYGEN|FON98765^LAB
OBR|1|PON12345^MERCYGEN|FON98765^LAB|CBC^Complete Blood Count^L
OBX|1|NM|718-7^Hemoglobin^LN||13.5|g/dL|13.0-17.0|N|||F
FHIR mapping
Primary target resource: ServiceRequest. ORC also maps to Provenance (who entered/verified/authored, derived from ORC-1/9/10/11/12), and contributes to DiagnosticReport, Immunization, and MedicationAdministration depending on the order context. Official ConceptMaps: ServiceRequest, DiagnosticReport, Immunization, MedicationAdministration, Provenance.
Key ServiceRequest mappings:
| ORC field | FHIR target (ServiceRequest) |
|---|---|
| ORC-1 Order Control | ServiceRequest.status + intent (+ businessEvent extension) |
| ORC-2 Placer Order Number | ServiceRequest.identifier (type PLAC) |
| ORC-3 Filler Order Number | ServiceRequest.identifier (type FILL) |
| ORC-4 Placer Group Number | ServiceRequest.requisition (type PGN) |
| ORC-5 Order Status | ServiceRequest.status |
| ORC-9 Date/Time of Order Event | ServiceRequest.authoredOn |
| ORC-12 Ordering Provider | ServiceRequest.requester (Practitioner) |
| ORC-14 Call Back Phone Number | order-callback-phone-number extension |
| ORC-16 Order Control Code Reason | request-statusReason extension |
| ORC-21 Ordering Facility Name | requester Organization |
| ORC-28 Confidentiality Code | meta.security |
| ORC-29 Order Type | ServiceRequest.locationCode |
| ORC-33 Alternate Placer Order Number | ServiceRequest.identifier (type PLAC) |
Provenance: ORC-1 → Provenance.activity (CREATE/UPDATE/CANCEL); ORC-10/11/12 → Provenance.agent (enterer/verifier/author). Fields without a published target (ORC-6, ORC-13, ORC-15, ORC-25 through ORC-27, ORC-30 through ORC-32, ORC-34 through ORC-38) are control/billing details not represented on ServiceRequest.
Engine considerations
- Required in practice: ORC-1 is required; most interfaces also require ORC-2 (placer) and the ordering provider (ORC-12).
- Branch on ORC-1 first — cancel/replace actions must update or supersede the existing order, not create a new one.
- Use ORC-2 and ORC-3 together as the correlation key across placer and filler systems.
- In v2.5+ read timing from TQ1/TQ2, not the deprecated ORC-7.
How Vorro parses and produces ORC
Vorro routes on ORC-1, correlating orders by placer (ORC-2) and filler (ORC-3) numbers so updates and cancellations attach to the existing order. Repeating provider fields are preserved, timing is read from TQ1 in v2.5+ feeds, and on the FHIR side Vorro emits ServiceRequest with status/intent derived from ORC-1 plus a Provenance capturing who entered, verified, and authored the order.
Related pages
- OBR — the observation-request detail segment ORC pairs with.
- OBX — the result observations that follow an order.
- ORM messages — the order message ORC heads.
