This document is technical in nature and is available in English only due to its limited targeted audience.

This publication has been exempted from translation under the French Language Services Act.

Register for an OHIP billing number

Register with the Ministry of Health (the ministry) to get an Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) billing number to submit claims for insured services.

To register for an OHIP billing number, the ministry requires you to:

For further information on how to register for an OHIP billing number, please refer to the ministry’s webpage on OHIP Billing Number Registration.

Mandatory practice address reporting

All physicians are required under Regulation 57/97 of the Health Insurance Act to provide in writing to the ministry an address for every place they regularly provide insured services in Ontario to insured persons. If a physician plans to change the place where they regularly provide insured services, they must give the ministry the address of the new place 30 days before the change occurs.

Where multiple addresses exist, the physician should identify which address is the primary practice site where possible. In addition to each address, physicians would indicate whether services are provided as a locum tenens and/or provided as delegated procedures carried out under direct supervision of the physician.

Provisions governing delegated procedures can be found in the General Preamble section of the Schedule of Benefits for Physician Services.

Practice addresses are not considered personal information and may be disclosed upon request pursuant to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and as such, it is recommended that your residential address not be provided.

The ministry may require supporting documentation to validate your address information and may request information on any other practice addresses. In addition, you may be contacted to verify and/or update your address data currently on file with the ministry.

How to get an OHIP billing number

The Ministry of Health has an electronic submission service for provider registration and registry maintenance. Health care providers can submit requests for provider and group registration and maintenance using the online application form.

When the application form is approved and processed, you will receive a letter from the ministry mailed to the practice address provided on the application with your assigned OHIP billing number and the effective date.

Contact

For more information, call the Service Support Contact Centre (SSCC) -  1-800-262-6524. Hours of operation: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday except holidays.

Required certificates from the CPSO to bill the ministry

To bill the ministry, you must hold one of the following valid types of certificate from the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSO):

  • Independent Practice
  • Academic Practice
  • Supervised Practice of Short Duration
  • Restricted Practice

To get an OHIP billing number, the ministry requires that hold a valid certificate with the CPSO. If you hold an educational licence, you are not eligible to apply for an OHIP billing number.

Working while waiting for a billing number to be issued

When you get a billing number, you may bill:

  • retroactively up to six months before receiving your billing number but
  • no earlier than the effective date of your certificate

Submitting claims

Your claims must be submitted by electronic data transfer in accordance with Section 38.3 of Regulation 552, to the Health Insurance Act.

Refer to Claims Submission for information on how to submit your claims.

Use of employing physician billing number while working as a locum

You cannot use an employing physician billing number while working as a locum. You must submit claims using your own billing number. However, refer to the "Delegated Procedure" section of the General Preamble of the Schedule of Benefits for Physician Services for rules regarding submitting claims for delegated procedures in a locum tenens.

Health care group registration

For a group of currently licensed health care professionals to designate themselves as a group, complete the online application form. Once authorized by the ministry, payments can be made directly to the Group for services provided on behalf of the Group.

A health care professional is eligible to join a group as long as they meet these criteria:

  • The health care professional has a current Certificate of Registration to practise in Ontario
  • Has already registered for an OHIP Billing Number with the ministry

Note: The ministry must be notified of any changes to the group no less than sixty (60) days prior to this change. You can notify the ministry of these changes by completing a "Provider Registration/Change Request Form" electronic form.

A designated group administrator must complete the application on behalf of the group. The group administrator must be authorized by the group members to submit the information to be provided, including personal information, if any, on their behalf.

Consent and authorization for group membership and payment

To authorize the Ministry of Health to register a currently-licensed physician/practitioner for group membership and to authorize payment directly to the group, please complete the online application form.

If you are joining more than one group, please add the group information for each group where you will be providing services on behalf of.

Change of address, banking information, and group information for health care professionals or health care Groups

Health care professionals and/or health care group administrators can update/change their registration information using the online application form.

This application must be submitted for any/all of the following updates/changes:

  • health care professionals registering for direct bank payment with the Ministry of Health (the ministry)
  • health care professionals and health care groups interested in updating banking information
  • health care professionals interested in updating address information (primary practice address, additional site address(es), and mailing address).
  • health care groups interested in updating their group name.
  • health care groups interested in updating their group administrator information.

Note: You must give the ministry at least 30 days advance notice of any changes to your address information.

Application for interactive voice response participation

The Ontario Ministry of Health is pleased to offer the interactive voice response (IVR) system to verify health cards using a touch tone phone. You will be able to enter a 1-800 or local number, key in the health number/version code to be verified and receive a reply indicating the status of the information entered. There is no charge for this service. You will receive your Personal Identification Number (PIN) and a User Manual. This service is available in accordance with the August 1993 OMA/MOH Agreement.

To register for IVR access, please complete the online application

Online resources are available to help health care professionals process OHIP claims:

Payment

Claims submission

More information

Call the Service Support Contact Centre (SSCC) at  1-800-262-6524

Hours of operation: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday, except holidays

E-mail: SSContactCentre.MOH@ontario.ca