CARC 250 Active

PR-250: Incorrect Attachment/Documentation Received

TL;DR

The payer received the wrong document with your claim. The attachment you submitted does not match what was requested — the correct documentation is still needed. Locate the right document and resubmit.

Action
Review & Decide
Who Pays
Patient
Appeal
No
Patient Impact
Direct Financial
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional billing advice. Always verify information against your payer contracts and current coding guidelines. Consult a certified billing specialist for specific claim issues.

What Does PR-250 Mean?

CARC 250 indicates that the payer received an attachment or supporting document with your claim, but it was the wrong one. The document the payer actually needs has not been provided. This is distinct from CARC 251 (incomplete documentation) — with CARC 250, the problem is not that the document is missing pages or details, but that an entirely incorrect document was submitted.

Common scenarios include sending medical records for the wrong patient, attaching operative notes when office visit notes were requested, submitting an outdated version of a required document, or having an electronic attachment linking error where the wrong file was associated with the claim.

The accompanying RARC codes on the remittance advice are important because they specify what document the payer was expecting. Review these codes carefully before resubmitting to ensure you send the correct attachment the second time.

How to Resolve

Identify the correct document from the RARC codes, locate it, and resubmit the claim with the right attachment.

  1. Review the RARC codes Examine the accompanying Remittance Advice Remark Codes to identify exactly which document the payer was expecting. CARC 250 requires at least one remark code.
  2. Locate the correct document Find the document that was originally requested. Verify it matches the correct patient, date of service, and document type.
  3. Verify patient and claim identifiers Before resubmitting, confirm the document matches the correct patient name, date of birth, claim number, and date of service to avoid another mismatch.
  4. Resubmit with correct attachment Submit the claim with the correct document attached. Use the payer's preferred submission method and verify the attachment is properly linked to the claim.
  5. Verify electronic attachment linking If submitting electronically, confirm the correct file is associated with the correct claim ID in your transmission system before sending.
Do Not Appeal This Code

The wrong document was submitted with the claim. Locate and submit the correct attachment, then resubmit the claim. An appeal is not appropriate — simply provide the correct documentation.

Also Filed As

The same CARC 250 may appear with different Group Codes:

CO-250 OA-250

Related Denial Codes

PR-13 — Date of Death Precedes Date of Service PR-14 — Date of Birth Follows Date of Service PR-19 — Workers' Compensation Claim PR-20 — Liability Carrier Responsible PR-21 — No-Fault Carrier Responsible

Sources

  1. https://x12.org/codes/claim-adjustment-reason-codes
  2. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ohs/health-it-advisory-council/apcd-advisory-group/data-submission-guide-workgroup/meeting-materials/6-30-22/carc-codes_final.pdf
  3. https://www.aapc.com/resources/claim-adjustment-reason-codes
  4. Codes maintained by X12. Visit x12.org for official definitions.