Error code
AH5 — Admit date mismatch
Admission date mismatch
The admission date on the claim doesn't agree with the hospital stay the service belongs to.
What to do: Check the admission date and hospital master number against the hospital record, correct them, and resubmit.
- Code
- AH5
- Description
- Admit date mismatch
Explanation
Updated October 26, 2026
AH5 means the admission date on the claim doesn't match the Ministry's record of the hospital stay. Check the date and resubmit.
What it means
AH5 is described as 'Admit date mismatch'. It isn't on the Ministry's current published list of Error Report codes (December 2022), so there is no official explanation of exactly what is compared.
Claims for in-hospital services carry the hospital's master number and the patient's admission date. A mismatch points to an admission date that doesn't agree with the stay the service belongs to.
Common causes
- A typing error in the admission date
- The admission date of a different stay (for example a previous admission) was used
- The date of a transfer or referral was entered instead of the date the patient was admitted
How to fix it
- Check the admission date in the hospital record for this stay.
- Correct the admission date on the claim, and check the hospital master number while you are there.
- Resubmit the corrected claim within three months of the service date if you can. If that window has passed but the claim was first submitted on time, use the Ministry's stale-dated resubmission process: one stale-dated claim file through MCEDT, then an email to [email protected] with the Error Reports showing the original submission date.
Don't resubmit if
- The admission date on the claim already matches the hospital record. Look for another cause before sending it again.
How APEX handles it
APEX reads your error reports and remittance advice from MCEDT and lists claims rejected with this code in its Correction Centre for you to correct and resubmit. See how APEX works · Pricing
Related codes: AH8, V18, V66, H8