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Billing code

Q011A — Pap Smear (25 - 69 years)

Pap screening tracking code

Bill Q011A at zero to record an enrolled patient's cervical screening (Pap) so it counts toward the preventive care bonus.

Watch for: Expect a zero payment with explanatory code 30; submit it alongside your normal fee-for-service billing.

Code

Q011A

Description

Pap Smear (25 - 69 years)

FHO+ basket

Not in the FHO+ base rate basket (Schedule 2 or 2B).

Effective date

Jan 1, 1999

Termination date

No end date

Explanation

Updated October 26, 2026

Zero-fee tracking code that records an enrolled patient's cervical screening (Pap) for the preventive care bonus.

What it covers

Q011A is the Pap smear (cervical screening) tracking code (OMA Q-codes guide p.7, p.18). Tracking codes mark a patient as having received a preventive service, which counts toward the physician's preventive care bonus percentage for that category (OMA Q-codes guide p.17).

It is not in the Schedule or Appendix Q. The source is the 2020 OMA Q-codes guide.

Billing rules

• Bill at zero. The remittance advice pays zero with explanatory code 30, 'this service is not a benefit of OHIP' (OMA Q-codes guide p.17).
• Submit it with your normal fee-for-service and premium billing (OMA Q-codes guide p.17).
• The cervical screening bonus is based on enrolled patients with a cervix aged 25 to 69 on March 31 who had cervical screening in the 66 months before March 31 of the fiscal year (INFOBulletin 260805).
• Bonus tiers Q105A to Q109A run from 60% to 80% of that population and are claimed at zero (AQ6).
• Appendix Q lists the Pap tiers for RNPGA, BSM, GHC, SJHC, SEAMO, WHA and CCM/FHG physicians who meet the minimum roster (AQ6). The April 2026 FHO agreement gives FHO physicians only the influenza and childhood immunization bonuses (Agreement p.65 §8.1).
• Patients who have had a hysterectomy, are being tested for cervical disease that rules out routine screening, or are not sexually active are excluded with Q140A (OMA Q-codes guide p.18).

Common rejections

• A2B: The Ministry's description for A2B is 'service not usually performed for the patient's sex'; the Pap target population is female patients, so check the sex on OHIP's record (OMA Q-codes guide p.16).
• EH2: The health card version code on the claim doesn't match OHIP's record for the patient; get the current version code and resubmit.
• VH4: The Ministry's description for VH4 is 'invalid version code'; check the version code on the patient's card.
• VH1: The health number on the claim is blank or isn't a valid 10-digit Ontario health number.

Related codes: Q140, Q105, Q109, G365

Source: Not in the Schedule of Benefits; OMA Primary Care Q-Codes Quick Reference Guide (November 2020), Tracking and Exclusion Codes, pages 7 and 17–18

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