$xml = '<wellmed>MessageList><MessageItem msgtype="5" subject="Bookmark from Health Coach"><Patient loginname="' ."$ss|$name|$dob" . '" sponsorid="303" /><DocumentList><DocumentItem date="' . "$theDate" .'" from="HealthDialog" time="">abc</DocumentItem></DocumentList></MessageItem></MessageList></wellmed>';

use XML::Simple;
use SOAP::Lite +trace; 

my $data = SOAP::Data->name('data' => "$xml")->type('string')->uri('');