Back to search

Electronic Remittance Advice

ERA
claims
Updated 5/15/2026

Definition

HIPAA-standard 835 transaction file transmitted by payers to providers detailing claims payment decisions, adjudicated amounts, adjustment reason codes (CARCs), and remark codes (RARCs). Used in revenue cycle management systems to automate payment posting and reconciliation against submitted 837 claim transactions.

Standard Abbreviation

ERA

Category

claims

Database Usage

-- Example column naming
CREATE TABLE claims (
  clm_id VARCHAR(50),
  era VARCHAR(100),  -- Electronic Remittance Advice (max 100 chars)
  ...
);

-- Example in SELECT
SELECT
  clm_id,
  era as electronic_remittance_advice
FROM claims;

Example database column name

ISO-11179 snake_case standard

-- Recommended column name
era

-- Example DDL
CREATE TABLE healthcare_data (
  record_id   VARCHAR(50)   NOT NULL,
  era          VARCHAR(100),  -- Electronic Remittance Advice (max 100 chars)
  created_dt  TIMESTAMP     NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
);

Column names follow the ISO-11179 naming convention: lowercase, underscore-separated, using the standard abbreviation as a prefix where applicable.

Why This Term Matters

Claims data is the financial backbone of the US healthcare system, and understanding claims terminology is essential for building accurate revenue cycle and reimbursement analytics. Data engineers who know this terminology can correctly parse 837 transactions, identify adjudication errors, and model denial patterns that represent real revenue recovery opportunities. A single misunderstood claims field can result in millions in underpayments identified only after external audits.

Common uses in healthcare data

  • Claims adjudication and remittance processing
  • 837P/837I/837D claim file parsing and validation
  • Revenue cycle management and denial analytics
  • CMS cost report and Medicare cost reporting
  • Payer contract performance and underpayment analysis
  • Snowflake claims data mart design with adjudication and remittance fact tables
  • Epic Resolute and Cerner Revenue Cycle claims data extraction and normalization
  • Databricks Delta Lake incremental load pipelines for high-volume 837 claim processing

Related Healthcare Standards

ASC X12 837 (HIPAA)

The HIPAA-mandated EDI transaction standard for submitting professional (837P), institutional (837I), and dental (837D) claims electronically.

CMS-1500 / UB-04

The paper claim form standards that define the fields and codes required for professional and institutional claims submission to payers.

HIPAA 5010

The version of HIPAA EDI standards that governs all electronic claims, remittance (835), and eligibility (270/271) transactions.

Data Quality Considerations

  • Duplicate claims are endemic in raw 837 feeds — deduplicate on a composite key of (claim_id, service_date, billed_amount, provider_npi) before loading into your Snowflake or Databricks claims data warehouse.
  • ICD-10-PCS procedure codes are often confused with ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes in source data — validate code format and route to the correct column based on claim loop position (loop 2300 vs. 2400).
  • Adjudication and paid date sequencing errors occur due to batch processing lag — enforce a pipeline rule that adjudication_dt ≥ service_dt and paid_dt ≥ adjudication_dt as a quality check before reporting.

Looking for more healthcare terms?

Browse our complete library of 100,000+ standardized healthcare data terms

Browse All Terms