UB04 Admission Hour Code 05: 05:00 AM - 05:59 AM

Introduction

Admission Hour Code 05 indicates that a patient was formally admitted to the facility between the hours of 05:00 AM and 05:59 AM. This code is reported in Field 13: Admission Hour to document the start of the inpatient or outpatient encounter using a 24-hour clock format.

Usage

This code is used by acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other institutional providers to track the precise hour of a patient's arrival or transition to inpatient status. It is commonly seen in scenarios involving early morning scheduled surgeries or emergency department transfers that occur just before the start of the standard business day.

Billing Impact

While the admission hour itself does not typically change the DRG assignment, it is critical for calculating the length of stay and ensuring the claim passes clinical consistency edits required by payers.