MFN^M02 — Master File Notification — Staff / Practitioner

The practitioner master file: M02 broadcasts creations, updates and deactivations of care providers from the HR system to every clinical downstream system.

Purpose

M02 carries the practitioner master file: identity, specialties, qualifications, facility affiliations. Every receiver (EHR, LIS, PACS, pharmacy…) keeps a local cache synchronised with HR to resolve practitioner references (PV1-7 attending physician, ORC-12 ordering provider, OBR-16 test result responsible practitioner).

M02 uses targeted updates (MFE) instead of snapshots: a single message can carry one or more MFE blocks for different practitioners, each with its own action (MAD = add, MUP = update, MDC = deactivate).

Segment structure

MFN_M02
  MSH                    Message Header (mandatory)
  [ SFT ]                Software Segment (optional)
  MFI                    Master File Identification (mandatory)
  {                      MFE loop (1..n)
    MFE                  Master File Entry
    STF                  Staff Identification
    [ { PRA } ]          Practitioner Detail (optional, repeatable)
    [ { AFF } ]          Professional Affiliation (optional, repeatable)
    [ { LAN } ]          Language Detail (optional, repeatable)
    [ { EDU } ]          Educational Detail (optional, repeatable)
    [ { CER } ]          Certificate Detail (optional, repeatable)
  }

MFI — Master File Identification

• MFI-1: master file identifier. For M02, value STF (Staff Master File, table 0175).
• MFI-3: File-Level Event Code. UPD = incremental update (standard), REP = full replace.
• MFI-4 / MFI-5: effective and release dates.

MFE — Master File Entry

• MFE-1: Record-Level Event Code (table 0180). MAD = add, MUP = update, MDC = deactivate, MDL = delete.
• MFE-2: transaction identifier (UUID or sequence).
• MFE-4: master-file key — for M02, the internal practitioner identifier.

STF — Staff Identification

• STF-1: internal identifier (primary key).
• STF-2: external identifiers (RPPS in France, NPI in the US, GMC in the UK).
• STF-3: practitioner name (XPN).
• STF-4: staff type (table 0182 — physician, nurse, assistant…).
• STF-7: active (A) / inactive (I) status.

PRA — Practitioner Detail

• PRA-3: practitioner type.
• PRA-5: category (physician, midwife, nurse…).
• PRA-6: specialties (table 0286: CAR Cardiology, MED General Medicine, PED Pediatrics…).
• PRA-7: full / part time (table 0187).

Real-world example

Update of Dr James A. Smith, cardiologist, RPPS 78901234567:

MSH|^~\&|HR|HOSP01|EHR|CLINIC02|20260515080000||MFN^M02^MFN_M02|MSG00012001|P|2.5.1|||AL|NE
MFI|STF^Staff Master File^HL70175|HR^HR System^HL70360|UPD|20260515080000|20260515080000|NE
MFE|MUP|UPDATE-12345||PRA001^^^HOSP^EI
STF|PRA001^^^HOSP^EI|78901234567^^^RPPS^NPI|SMITH^JAMES^A^^DR.^^L|MED^Physician^HL70182|M|19700412|A|^WPN^PH^^^1^5556789|OFFICE 12^FLOOR 3^HOSP01||20100401|||1^Cardiology^HL70286
PRA|PRA001^^^HOSP^EI|HOSP01|MED^Physician^HL70182|78901234567^^^RPPS^NPI|H|CAR^Cardiology^HL70286~MED^General Medicine^HL70286|P^Full Time^HL70187|||A^Active^HL70334
AFF|1|HOSP01^Central Hospital^HL70183|EMPL|20100401

Acknowledgment (MFK)

MSH|^~\&|EHR|CLINIC02|HR|HOSP01|20260515080001||MFK^M02^MFK_M02|ACK00012001|P|2.5.1
MSA|AA|MSG00012001
MFI|STF^Staff Master File^HL70175|HR^HR System^HL70360|UPD|20260515080000|20260515080001|NE
MFA|S|UPDATE-12345|20260515080001|S|PRA001^^^HOSP^EI

Common errors

• Missing RPPS / NPI: STF-2 without an external identifier breaks cross-service matching and the bridge with national directories (FINESS, RPPS).
• Inconsistent MFE-1: sending MAD for a practitioner already in the receiver cache produces a duplicate; sending MUP for an unknown practitioner is rejected.
• Missing STF-7 (status): deactivated practitioners remain active on the receiver side if status is not explicitly carried.

FHIR equivalent

In FHIR R5, the same scope is split into:

• Practitioner — the provider's identity and qualifications;
• Organization — the employer facility;
• PractitionerRole — role (specialty + organisation), FHIR equivalent of the STF + AFF pair.

See also: MFN^M01 — Master File — Generic.