Attachment File

The attachment file contains binary information that goes into the 275's BIN02 (5010) or BDS03 (6020) element.

In general, an attachment file can be of any file type. Some examples are:

  • an x-ray in .jpg format
  • clinical notes in .pdf format
  • an MRI in .gif format
  • bloodwork results in .doc format.

When following HL7 rules, the attachment size has a limit of 64 MB. Otherwise the attachment size is unlimited.

Example

A claim has been submitted for services rendered for head trauma and the Payer has requested an x-ray of the injury. The Translator Attachment Adapter is used to create a 275 transaction with the file containing the x-ray in the BIN02 or BDS03 segment, as a response to the Payer.

The file xray.jpg contains the x-ray.

Viewed as a graphic, it looks like this:

It is actually binary information...

...and displays in the 275 BIN02 or BDS03 element "translated to Base64": 
 ------=_Part_0_1795616519.1427119732914
Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name=xray.jpg
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=xray.jpg
Content-ID: xray.jpg

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAkGBxMTEhUUExQVFhQUGBcaGBcXFxcdHBUcFRcYFxcY HBgYHCggGBo
lHBgUITEhJSkrLi4uGB8zODMsNygtLisBCgoKDg0OGxAQGywkICQsLCwsLCwsLCws LCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsL
CwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLCwsLP/AABEIAMIBAwMBEQACEQED EQH/xAAbAAABBQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAAEDBAUGB
//EAEIQAAEDAgMECAUBBQcDBQAAAAEAAhED IQQSMQVBUWEGE3GBkaGx8CIyQsHRUhQjM2LhB3KSorLS8UOCwhVTc4Pi
/8QAGgEAAwEBAQEAAAAA AAAAAAAAAQIDAAQFBv/EADURAAICAQIDBQgCAgIDAQEAAAABAhEDITEEEkEiUWFx8AUTMoGRobHR
.
.
.
------=_Part_0_1795616519.1427119732914