When to turn off Health Card Verification versus using offline mode
A quick guide for Mobile App users on when to use HCV off vs. Offline mode:
HCV OFF (Menu -> Preferences)
Use this feature when the MOHLTC is scheduling maintenance or encountering issues on their mainframes. You can enter the patient's demographic information manually, but you will receive a pop-up message that the feature is not working, adding a delay to your billing workflow.
You can "turn off" the HCV feature (Menu --> Preferences) to avoid the pop-up messages. Once MOHLTC resumes normal operations, you can "turn on" the HCV feature back again.
OFFLINE MODE (Phone's settings --> Airplane mode=ON).
Use this feature when you have limited Internet connectivity or when we are conducting maintenance on our own servers. You can also use it when MOHLTC is scheduling maintenance or encountering issues on their mainframes.
When you enable "offline mode" the app will not have internet access and will not be able to reach MDBilling.ca's servers. During offline mode some of the features will be restricted:
All service and diagnosis codes: will be available from the app's local database.
Referring physicians: you will need to enter the 6 digit billing number. For security reasons, we do not store the referring physician database on the app's local database in case you lose your phone.
Patients/claims recently entered will be available, but not patients/claims that were entered when you were online, again in case you lose your phone.
Sticker-to-text will be fully functional. It will populate the patient demographic information with temporary values. Once the app gains access to the Internet, the system will automatically populate the correct patient demographic information using health card validation.
Note: the app's local database is always encrypted. But for security reasons, we avoid (if at all possible) storing any sensitive information.
QUICK SUMMARY:
HCV under maintenance or experiencing issues:
HCV OFF (you will need to manually enter the patient information, but will have full access to the app)
OFFLINE MODE (you will not need to enter the patient information, but you will have limited access to the app).
MDBilling.ca servers offline due to maintenance:
OFFLINE MODE
Smartphone with limited or no internet connectivity:
OFFLINE MODE