Box 14: Date of current illness, injury, or pregnancy
By Dr. Daniel Turner, DC · Reviewed September 2, 2026
What goes in Box 14 of the CMS-1500?
The onset date of the current condition, with a qualifier identifying what kind of date it is. For accident cases this is the accident date; for other conditions it is the symptom onset.
What does Box 14 mean for chiropractic billing?
On a personal injury claim this date anchors everything: it must match the accident date in the demand package, the attorney file, and every note. On Medicare claims the initial treatment date documentation requirement makes onset tracking a habit worth building into intake.
The mistakes that turn this box into denials
- ✗Onset date drifting from the accident date across a long case
- ✗Todays date entered instead of onset
- ✗The qualifier omitted
The denials this box causes
- →CO-16 · see the full fix in the denial library
How Cervica fills Box 14
Cervica generates the CMS-1500 and its electronic 837P equivalent from the chart and the payer's own rules: identifiers from the verified insurance record, modifiers and codes per payer, and pre submission scrubbing that flags exactly the mistakes listed above before a claim leaves the building.
Related boxes
- →Box 10a to 10c · Is the condition related to employment, auto accident, or other accident
- →Box 15 · Other date
General information for billing teams, not billing advice for any individual claim. The NUCC's 1500 Claim Form instructions and each payer's companion guides control.