RARC N517: Requested Information Not Received Timely
The payer denied the claim because requested additional documentation was not received within the required deadline — submit a new claim with all requested documentation attached and set up tracking for future payer requests.
What Does RARC N517 Mean?
RARC N517 indicates that the payer previously requested additional information or documentation to process the claim, and the response was not received within the required timeframe. Payers commonly issue development letters or Additional Documentation Requests (ADRs) when they need clinical records, operative reports, invoices, or other supporting documents before they can adjudicate a claim. These requests come with a deadline — typically 30 to 45 days, though it varies by payer — and if the deadline passes without a response, the claim is denied.
This denial is procedural, not clinical. The payer is not saying the service was inappropriate or uncovered — it is saying it could not make a determination because the information needed for that determination was never provided. In many cases, the underlying claim may be perfectly clean and payable once the documentation is submitted.
N517 often results from a breakdown in the provider's mail handling, document management, or follow-up workflow. The development letter may have been received but routed to the wrong department, lost in a mailroom, or overlooked in a queue of correspondence. Electronic requests can be missed if the payer sends them through a portal that is not monitored regularly.
What to Do
Because the original claim has been denied (not merely pended), you typically need to submit a new claim rather than a corrected or resubmitted version — check the payer's specific rules, as some allow resubmission while others require a fresh claim. Attach all of the documentation that was originally requested, including medical records, operative reports, invoices, or whatever the development letter specified. If you no longer have the original request letter, contact the payer to confirm what documentation is needed.
Be mindful of timely filing limits. If the new claim falls outside the payer's filing window, you may need to request a timely filing exception, citing the original submission date and the documentation request as evidence that the claim was initiated within the filing period. To prevent future N517 denials, implement a tracking system for payer documentation requests — log the request date, deadline, and responsible staff member, and set automated reminders before the deadline.
Common Scenarios
- A payer sends a development letter requesting operative notes for a surgical claim, but the letter is filed in the provider's general correspondence without being routed to the billing team
- An ADR is received through the payer's online portal, but the billing staff does not check the portal regularly and misses the 30-day response window
- A documentation request for a DME claim asks for a certificate of medical necessity, but the prescribing physician's office takes too long to provide the signed document
Commonly Paired With
RARC N517 commonly appears alongside these CARC denial codes: