# Claim edit: Missing last name

> Stedi now rejects 837P professional, 837D dental, and 837I institutional claims that include a person entity with no last name.

Published Jun 9, 2026

Product: Claim edits

Stedi now rejects [837P professional](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/submit-professional-claims), [837D dental](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/submit-dental-claims), and [837I institutional](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/submit-institutional-claims) claims that include a person entity with no last name.

## How the edit works

In a claim, each entity, such as the billing provider or subscriber, is identified as either a person or a non-person using an entity type qualifier.

When an entity is a person, both a first name and last name are required. In X12, this is the entity’s `NM1-03` element. If a person’s last name is missing, the payer may reject the claim.

This [edit](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/claim-edits-and-repairs#edits) catches the issue before the claim reaches the payer. It prevents payer rejections, which take longer to resolve and delay payment for the provider.

## How entity type qualifiers are specified

If you use Stedi's [JSON Claim Submission API endpoints](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/intro-to-claim-submission#api-claim-submission), Stedi sometimes infers the entity type qualifier. For example, if you provide a [`firstName`](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/api-reference/post-healthcare-claims#body.billing.firstName) and [`lastName`](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/api-reference/post-healthcare-claims#body.billing.lastName) for the [billing provider](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/api-reference/post-healthcare-claims#body.billing) in a [JSON 837P Professional Claims API request](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/api-reference/post-healthcare-claims), the entity is treated as a person.

If you use X12, you set the entity type qualifier in `NM1-02` (Entity Type Qualifier). `1` indicates a person and `2` indicates a non-person entity, such as a hospital or billing organization.

## Rejection errors

If you submit a claim using Stedi's [Claim Submission API endpoints](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/intro-to-claim-submission#api-claim-submission) and the claim fails the edit, you'll get back an error response in real time. The response includes details in the `errors` array.

```jsonc
{
  "errors": [
    {
      "code": "33",
      "description": "Missing Last Name. Last name is required when Billing Provider is reported as a person by the entity type qualifier 1. Correct and resubmit.",
      "followupAction": "Please Correct and Resubmit"
    }
  ]
}
```

If you submit a claim using [SFTP](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/submit-claims-sftp-connection) and the claim fails the edit, Stedi will reject the claim with a [277CA claim acknowledgment](https://www.stedi.com/docs/healthcare/claim-responses-overview#277ca-claim-acknowledgment). The acknowledgment will include a related [claim status category code](https://x12.org/codes/claim-status-category-codes), [claim status code](https://x12.org/codes/claim-status-codes), entity identifier code, and error message.

```jsx
STC*A6>504>85*[DATE]*U*[AMOUNT]********Missing Last Name. Last name is required when Billing Provider is reported as a person by the entity type qualifier 1. Correct and resubmit.~
```

## Related claim edits

Stedi has a companion edit for missing first names. See [Claim edit: Missing first name](https://www.stedi.com/changelog/claim-edit-missing-first-name).