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Billing code

Q311A — FHO+ hourly phone care away from the clinic

FHO+ hourly phone care

FHO physicians bill Q311A for phone care to enrolled patients while away from the usual clinic setting, in 15-minute units per day.

Watch for: Phone care given while you are in the office is direct care under Q310A, not Q311A.

Code

Q311A

Description

FHO+ hourly phone care away from the clinic

FHO+ basket

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

Effective date

Apr 1, 2026

Termination date

No end date

Explanation

Updated October 26, 2026

FHO+ hourly code for phone care to enrolled FHO patients when the physician is not in the usual clinic setting, in 15-minute units.

What it covers

Q311A pays FHO physicians by the hour for time spent personally providing telephone care to enrolled patients of the FHO when the physician is not physically in the usual family practice setting (Agreement p.61 §6.1(ii)). It is paid at a lower hourly rate than Q310A (Agreement p.61 §6.1).

It is one of the four FHO+ hourly codes (Q310A–Q313A) in the April 2026 FHO agreement, not the Schedule or Appendix Q, payable to FHO and FHO contracted physicians (Agreement p.61 §6.1).

Billing rules

• Use Q311A only for phone care while away from the usual clinic setting. Phone care given in the office is direct care under Q310A (Agreement p.61 §6.1(i)–(ii)).
• Billed in 15-minute units per day, totalled across enrolled patients; 8 minutes or more left over counts as a unit (Agreement p.63 §6.3–6.4).
• Only in the usual family practice setting, including LTC homes and home visits, for enrolled patients (Agreement p.61 §6.1).
• Not for ED, in-hospital work (including labour and delivery), anaesthesia, surgical assist, Independent Health Facilities, non-enrolled patients, uninsured services or travel time (Agreement p.63 §6.5).
• All hourly codes together: at most 14.0 hours a day and 240.0, 248.6, 257.1 or 265.7 hours in a 28-, 29-, 30- or 31-day month (Agreement p.63–64 §6.6).
• Since May 1, 2026, hourly codes billed at $0.00 reject V41 for service dates from April 1, 2026; bill the dollar value for the units claimed (INFOBulletin 260501, per APEX's V41 error guide).
• Physicians not affiliated with an FHO get EPA, and FHO locums must bill hourly codes under the FHO group number (INFOBulletin 260309, per APEX's EPA error guide).

Often billed with

• Q310A, Q312A and Q313A for other categories of time the same day (Agreement p.63 §6.3).

Common rejections

• VH1: The health number on the claim was blank or invalid; check how your billing software fills the patient fields on hourly claims.
• VJ7: OHIP received the claim more than three months after the service date, so it was rejected as stale-dated.
• EPA: The physician isn't affiliated with an FHO, or an FHO locum billed without the FHO group number (INFOBulletin 260309).

Related codes: Q310, Q312, Q313

Source: Not in the Schedule of Benefits; FHO Physician Payment Agreement (April 2026), Appendix I §6 Hourly Payments, pages 61–64

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