OHIP error report·A3E
OHIP error code A3E: no such service code on the date of service
OHIP rejected the claim because that fee schedule code did not exist as a payable service code on the date of service.
Most often affects Internal medicine, Anaesthesia, Psychiatry, Hospitalists, and other specialist practices.
The one-line answer
OHIP rejected the claim because that fee schedule code did not exist as a payable service code on the date of service.
Ministry wording: No such service code for date of service.
Why it fires
- The code was typed incorrectly and does not exist in the fee schedule master on that date (wrong letter, transposed digits).
- The listing had not yet come into force on the service date (new INFOBulletin code billed too early).
- The listing had already been deleted or replaced on the service date (retired pandemic, sessional, or temporary code).
A3E is a fee-schedule-master miss: no such service code for date of service. The Ministry is not saying you billed the wrong specialty. It is saying that string was not a live fee schedule code on that calendar date.
Specialists see A3E after schedule updates. A new listing is announced in an INFOBulletin effective a future date. Someone bills it on encounters from the week before. The reverse also happens: a temporary code ends, favourites still send it, and every claim after the end date is A3E.
Typos are the third cluster. A135 entered as A153, or a suffix A/B/C in the wrong place, is “no such code” rather than a clinical dispute. A3E is the master-file answer. A3F is the different answer: the code exists that day but no fee is loaded.
What it costs
The line is rejected. Zero payment on that code until you submit a fee schedule code that existed on the service date. The amount at risk is the full intended professional fee.
If the intended code was valid and you only mistyped it, the loss is temporary and should reverse on resubmit. If you billed a code that was not in force yet, you must use whatever listing actually applied that day, which may pay a different amount.
Do not treat A3E as a software “hold.” It will not pay on the next RA unless you change the code.
How to fix it going forward
- Update EMR favourite lists the day an INFOBulletin effective date arrives, including deletions.
- Bill new listings only on service dates on or after the effective date printed in the bulletin.
- Run a monthly scan of rejected A3E codes against the current fee schedule master, not against last year’s printed list.
- Disable retired temporary codes so they cannot be selected.
A3E prevention is version control on your code list. One stale favourite after a schedule change will reject every physician who uses that button.
When a locum brings codes from another province or an old app, compare them to the Ontario master before the first submission batch.
Is it recoverable?
Recoverable by resubmission inside the window
Resubmit a fee schedule code that existed on the date of service, inside the three-month window.
Look up the service date in the Schedule and INFOBulletins in force that day. Enter the listing that actually existed. If the work you did maps to a different live code, use that code. If nothing payable existed, the original line cannot be forced through as the invalid string.
Past three months, a mistyped but otherwise payable service may be recoverable by written application. A code that did not exist that day still cannot be created retroactively.
For in-province services on or after 1 April 2023, claims must be submitted within three months of the date of service, not six. Ontario INFOBulletin 230402 is the Ministry notice. Many third-party pages still quote six months. That window is closed for current work. If the original claim reached the Claims Error Report inside three months, a corrected resubmission can still be filed after the window in the Ministry's stale-date process. If the claim was never submitted in time, payment may be recoverable by written application. That is not a routine resubmit.
Related codes
Frequently asked questions
- What does OHIP error code A3E mean?
- A3E means there was no such service code on the date of service. The fee schedule string you sent was not a live listing that day.
- How is A3E different from A3F?
- A3E means the code did not exist on that date. A3F means the code existed but no fee was on file for that date.
- Can I bill a code the week before its effective date?
- No. A listing is payable from its effective date. Billing it earlier is a designed A3E.
For how error reports relate to the remittance advice, see how to read your OHIP remittance advice and what rejection codes actually mean. Official wording for this code: Ministry of Health, Error Report Rejection Conditions (December 2022).