Are you fed up with OHIP's rejecting your claims due to invalid Health Care numbers (i.e. wrong version codes)?  There are a few things you can do to help reduce these and save your office staff a great of time and frustration.

1. Check Health Cards Each Visit - Make it your office policy to have patients show their Health Cards at every visit.  Post signs to reinforce this policy.  This method takes little time, but it is not very reliable.
   
2. Have Patients Sign Health Number Release Forms - This only fairly successful method is more useful for specialists who have a lower patient volume.   These forms can be sent in as soon as a claim is rejected and the patient cannot be contacted (they often change their phone numbers without notifying us.  Click here to get a form.
   
3. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) - You can use your touch-tone telephone to validate health cards at 1-800-265-6860 or (416)326-6666 in Toronto.  You must first contact OHIP and register to get this service (1-800-262-6524 or (613)548-7981 in Kingston or click here to get an application form). OHIP will send you an 8 digit password code and user manual.   This method is usually accurate, but it is tedious and time-consuming.  It could be used for new or infrequent-visiting patients.  To save your staff time and help them avoid input errors, you could program your phone with the IVR phone number and password code.
   
4. Over-Night Batch Eligibility Checking (OBEC) - This method uses your computer and requires that you are set up for Electronic Data Transfer (EDT) of you billings via the government "internet"-like computer connections.  (You need a datapac account from Bell and "GoNet" access codes from OHIP)  Click here for an application form for EDT and OBEC.  Your computer software can (if available) send health numbers in and receive the numbers' status over-night.  Drawbacks to this method are self-evident.  At least your staff could start chasing patients early for valid health numbers.
   
5. Card Swipe Readers -  purchase or lease this equipment and you can swipe health cards to quickly validate them.  The equipment is fairly costly to buy or lease and you require an additional phone line.  Each validation also costs you a small fee.  Adding it all up means the average family doctor will find this method too expensive to justify its costs unless electronic credit card processing is desired.
   
6. Instant online card validation - has been advertised by at least one software company (Medcomsoft's "MedWorks").  Details of this system are not known, but modem connections to the government as for OBEC and EDT are likely.   This method is similar to the method used by merchants validating credit cards.   Swipe the card and click an icon and you're done....but doing this for every card will likely mean that you will need an additional dedicated telephone line.