HCAI On Track for Fall Pilot

Terri Goveia | June 24, 2009

The new version of the Health Claims for Auto Insurance (HCAI) system is on track to launch a pilot phase this fall.

Testing of the redesigned system will continue this summer and the pilot is slated to begin in September with two insurers and several healthcare facilities, according to an Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) statement. By October, the pilot will broaden, and the IBC hopes its use will account for 25% of HCAI transactions by the end of February 2010. The old version—including Internet access, user names and passwords-- will be completely shut down by July 31, and the two systems will not overlap.

The present schedule calls for three adoption phases, beginning in March, 2010:  initial, second and final mandatory adoption phases. During the initial phase, all insurers will adopt HCAI by March 2010, and 500 healthcare facilities will adopt the system between April and May 2010. If that phase meets its goals, the next phase will add another 1,500 healthcare facilities between June and August, 2010. The final phase calls for the remaining facilities to join by November 30.

The IBC stresses that each phase will only go forward if the previous one meets targets, and once it’s clear that the system can handle the next user group. The IBC’s IT Oversight Committee will review the rollout with the HCAI Working Group.

As insurers and healthcare facilities join, their setup and claims information will migrate to the new system—facilities not previously registered must register from scratch, the statement notes, adding that practice management software will be available before the pilot begins.

The HCAI website—at www.hcaiinfo.ca-- will offer self-help tools for to guide  insurers and HCFs through the new system. In the interim, the IBC is looking for volunteers for the pilot phase, and asks healthcare facilities to contact Vivi Riis (vriis@ibc.ca) and insurers to contact Allison Brand (abrand@ibc.ca).