Health Care Facility | Insurers | Related Initiatives  

HCAI 2020: The Year Ahead / December 17, 2019


As we reach the end of 2019, let’s recap on what has been achieved for HCAI this year. In 2019, we focused on improving the user experience in HCAI through enhancing OCF search capabilities and continued browser support.  This year we began hosting HCAI Bootcamp, a series of monthly webinars designed to educate new enrollees about the fundamentals of HCAI. We then extended this initiative by hosting a recorded version of the webinar and HCAI demo, providing all users the opportunity to reinforce the HCAI essentials.

Next year the HCAI Team is planning to deliver three system releases, the most significant being Release 3.22, which goes live on February 3, 2020.

Here are the 3 things you need to consider for 2020:

1. Potential Insurer Branch Name Changes

In 2020, insurers will be making updates to the branch names found in the dropdown list on Part 2 of an OCF to better align with the current insurer structure. You will start noticing changes after Release 3.22 goes live on February 3, 2020.

So what happens if you don’t know which new branch name to select? We recommend selecting one of the branches displayed and if further clarification is needed contact the insurer directly. As long as the correct insurance company is chosen, the insurer will receive the OCF. However, if your facility uses a PMS system and receives an error regarding the branch selection, please contact your PMS vendor as they will likely need to refresh their insurer list for HCAI.

2. Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System: No Longer Supported

As of January 14, 2020 Microsoft will no longer support Windows 7. It is highly recommended that you access HCAI from a supported, up-to-date browser and operating system. Microsoft recommends upgrading to Windows 10. For more information about the recommended system settings visit HCAIinfo’s Computer Requirements page.

3. System Outages

In preparation for Release 3.22, the following system unavailability window is planned:

January 31, 2020 – February 3, 2020

The HCAI system will be unavailable from 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, January 31, 2020 and is expected to resume active status at 8:00 a.m. (EDT) on Monday, February 3, 2020.

Every Facility must have all of its transactions successfully processed by 4:59 p.m. (EDT) Friday, January 31, 2020.

Later This Year…

System Release 3.23 and 3.24 are scheduled to go live on June 1st and November 2nd of 2020. However, these releases are technical in nature and will not have material impact on work processes. More details will be provided as the release dates approach.

What’s Next?

Need a refresher on the HCAI basics? Whether you’re new to HCAI or would like to brush-up on your skills, you can now visit the new HCAI Bootcamp pages at www.hcaiinfo.ca to learn at your own pace.  The videos include a recorded webinar and a demo on how to successfully create and submit a plan and invoice in HCAI.