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Health Card Validation

What is Health Card Validation Basic? Health Card Validation Basic (HCV Basic) is a free service offered by OntarioMD in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). It allows users to validate the eligibility of a patient's health card against the Ministry databases in real-time. Response time is within a few seconds. The Web enabled service is provided through the OntarioMD.ca Physician Portal and is available to all registrants on the Portal.

HCV Basic service:
  • Allows users to validate health card numbers and version codes with the Ministry in real-time.
  • Returns only a response code which indicates the patient's health card number status and OHIP eligibility.
  • Allows users to validate patient eligibility for fee services (optional).
  • Returns Fee Service response code and last date of service (if existed).


HCV Basic service does not:
  • Return any personal health information (PHI).
  • Provide the corrected or updated health card number.
  • Return new or updated version code.
  • Guarantee payment of any claim submitted for providing a health care service to patients.

Sign In by clicking on the link in the website header (1). Once you are logged in, you may access and launch Health Card Validation from the new application launcher (2) in the top right corner of the header.



Before You Start

To use HCV Basic you need the following:

  • A personal computer with Internet access;
  • An OntarioMD Physician Portal account;
  • Optionally, you may use a card reader.

If you do not have a portal account:

  • You will need to gather your OMA number, date of birth, along with an optional e-mail address.
  • Go to OntarioMD.ca and "sign-up" for a portal account or call HCV Support to create your account.

If you have a portal account:

  • The service will already be available to you, a Health Card Validation Icon will be visible.

 Your staff members:

Staff may be granted access to HCV Basic by their sponsoring physician or staff manager. Please refer to the Sponsored Accounts guide (About Us > Help) or call OntarioMD support desk for assistance.

For OntarioMD support desk, please call 1-866-744-8668


How To Use HCV Basic

  1. After signing in to the Portal, click on application launcher in the top right corner of the website header.hcv.png

  2. Health Card Validation will launch in a new browser tab or window. Hover over the help icons on this page if you have any questions. 

    hcv 2.png

  3. Type in the 10-digit Health Number. You can either enter the number manually or swipe the health card through a card reader. The Health Number is a required filed and it should be: a. exactly 10 digits, as they appear on the face of a health card b. numbers only.

  4. Type in the Version Code. If you are using a card reader, the version code will be populated as soon as you swipe the health card. The Version Code should be: a. 1 or 2 characters. Old red and white health cards may not have a version code; hence it is not a required field b. alphabets only 

  5. Type in the 6-digit Physician’s Billing Number (also known as “OHIP Billing Number” or “Claim Submission Number (CSN)”). The Billing Number is a required filed and it should be: a. exactly 6 digits (a shorter billing number, e.g. 12345, should be entered as 012345) b. numbers only c. the “Solo CSN” and not the “Group CSN” 

  6. If you want to verify a patient’s eligibility for a fee service, select the “Fee Service” checkbox and the section will be enabled. Select Specialty and then the related Fee Service Code from the dropdown options. 

  7. Click the Submit Request button. Your request is now submitted to MOHLTC and Response Code, Service Response Code and the last Date of Service (if existed) are returned upon successful transaction. Detailed code descriptions are displayed upon hovering over the help icon beside the codes.



How It Works

Your request is now submitted to MOHLTC and a response code (i.e. a one or two-digit number) is returned upon successful transaction.

The response is colour coded as green, yellow or red depending on the eligibility status of a health card. If you hover over the question mark beside the code, you will see the code description.

If you have opted for Fee Service eligibility verification, a fee service response code and last date of service will be returned too.
For information on the response codes please refer to the MOHLTC Health Card Validation Reference Manual.


Which Card Readers Will Work With This Service?

The OntarioMD team have tested or Physicians have reported that the following card readers populate the Health Number and Version Code fields:

  • Unitech K2724

  • POSH MX53 - USB

  • MAGTEK 21040140 - USB

If you have tried a different card reader that worked with the HCV Basic service, please email us the make and model to support@ontariomd.com. We will include it in the list.


OntarioMD Support

The HCV Basic service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you have any questions, please contact support at 1.866.744.8668 or support@ontariomd.com. Support is available during regular business hours 9 AM to 5 PM Monday to Friday.