Health Care Facility | Insurers | Related Initiatives
Health Care Facility | Insurers | Related Initiatives  

HCAI 2019: the Year Ahead / January 21, 2019

2018 was a significant year for HCAI, containing important updates which included the Form 1 becoming mandatory in HCAI after a successful two-year pilot period.

This year, HCAI will deliver one system release, Release 3.21, which goes live on April 1, 2019.  Updates in Release 3.21 include:

  • The newest code sets from the Canadian Institute for Health Information
  • Enhancements to the OCF search results feature
  • Support for new recommended web browsers

Planned HCAI System Unavailability

In preparation for Release 3.21, the following system unavailability window is planned:

March 29 – April 1, 2019

  • The HCAI system will be unavailable from 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, March 29, 2019 and is expected to resume active status at 8:00 a.m. (EDT) on Monday, April 1, 2019.
  • Every Facility must have all of its transactions successfully processed by 4:59 p.m. (EDT) Friday, March 29, 2018.

What’s Changing?

  1. CIHI’s 2018 Codes Now Available

    2. HCAI will implement the 2018 ICD-10-CA and CCI code sets from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. When using the HCAI web application, if your draft OCF contains codes whose descriptions were updated, the new text will automatically display when the draft is opened after April 1. If you use a Practice Management System (PMS) to access HCAI, please note that we have communicated this update to PMS Vendors and you can verify with your Vendor if they will implement the updated code set.

    Visit HCAIinfo’s Coding page to find text and video walkthroughs that will help you understand injury and treatment coding, as well as pick-lists of codes that will be useful for filling out OCFs.

  2. Enhancements to the OCF Search Results Feature

    3. When downloading your OCF search results in .CSV format, you’ll now see the date each document was last modified alongside the date it was submitted. This allows you to see all the information you need in one place. You can download up to 100 search results at a time to view your OCF search data in a customizable format. Visit HCAIinfo’s Tracking OCFs page to learn how to search for submitted OCFs.

  3. Continued support of new versions of web browsers

    4. For the safest user experience, access HCAI using a supported, up-to-date web browser. HCAI recommends using Internet Explorer 11 and Windows 7 for Microsoft users, and Safari 11 and Mac OS High Sierra (10.13) for Mac users.  We recommend not enabling Compatibility View for HCAI.ca when using Internet Explorer 11. View HCAIinfo’s Computer Requirements and Tips page for more information about recommended settings.

What’s Next?

  • Share this HCAI Update with individuals at your organization who interact with the HCAI system.
  • Keep checking HCAIinfo – HCAI’s dedicated eLearning resource site – over the coming months for more information.