Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) in Washington

All states: EVV requirements map

Washington EVV at a glance

Last verified against state sources: 2026-10-08.

How does EVV work in Washington?

Washington State uses an open EVV model that the state calls the Provider Choice Model. Home care agencies choose and pay for their own EVV system, and the state does not supply or recommend one. There is no separate aggregator. The EVV data goes on the claim itself and is sent to ProviderOne, the state's Medicaid payment system.

For home care agencies, EVV applies to personal care billed as T1019 (with modifier HQ, U2, U3, U4 or U6) and respite billed as T1005 (with no modifier or with U2). The same rules cover clients authorized through Home and Community Services and through Developmental Disabilities Community Services. Agencies send claims to ProviderOne as a batch file or by Direct Data Entry.

A few points that agencies ask about most:

• Choosing a system: any EVV system may be used as long as it meets the state's EVV Systems Requirements Guide. The state does not publish a list of approved vendors.
• Caregiver IDs: each caregiver must be on the agency's roster in ProviderOne to receive a 9 digit servicing provider ID. A caregiver who serves clients from both administrations needs a roster row for each one.
• Live-in caregivers: agency employees must use EVV even when they live with the client. The live-in exemption applies only to individual providers.
• Individual providers: caregivers hired directly by the client are employed by Consumer Direct Care Network Washington, the state's Consumer Directed Employer, and use that employer's CareAttend system. An agency cannot substitute its own system for them.

Does Washington deny Medicaid claims without EVV data?

Yes, for agency personal care and respite. ProviderOne paid these claims and only reported EVV problems through 2025. In 2026 the state turned those checks into denials in three phases, and all three dates have now passed.

• January 1, 2026: claims deny when the servicing provider ID is missing or invalid, or when one caregiver is billed for more than 96 units on a single date.
• April 1, 2026: claims deny when the start or end time is missing or invalid, or when the units billed are more than the time span supports.
• July 1, 2026: claims deny when the start or end location is missing.

The denials also apply to claims submitted after January 1, 2026 for earlier dates of service, so late billing for 2025 visits is held to the same checks.

Each claim line must carry the federal EVV data elements. In Washington that means:

• the caregiver's 9 digit servicing provider ID
• start and end times in 24 hour format
• start and end location as latitude and longitude in decimal degrees, to at least 4 decimal places. Placeholder values such as 0.0000 are not allowed.

When an element was not captured electronically, the claim needs a Manual Claims Indicator that explains why. The indicator does not replace the missing element, so the time or location still has to be on the claim. Claims keyed by Direct Data Entry always need an indicator code, including one that says all of the data was captured electronically. In practice, a visit that was delivered but is missing one of these values is a visit that does not get paid until it is corrected.

Are Washington home health claims denied without EVV?

It is not clear, because the state's own documents disagree. Home health EVV is run by the Health Care Authority (HCA), separately from the personal care program, and the EVV data elements have been required on home health claims for dates of service on or after January 1, 2024. Whether a claim missing those elements is denied today is something we could not settle from published sources.

What is settled for home health:

• It is also a provider choice program. Agencies buy their own EVV system and HCA does not recommend one.
• The EVV elements go on the claim. Fee for service claims go to ProviderOne, and managed care claims go to the plan, which passes the data to HCA.
• Home health services delivered by telemedicine are exempt from EVV, and Medicare crossover claims are excluded.
• Since January 29, 2025, a National Provider Identifier for each visiting worker is no longer a condition of payment.

We did not review each managed care plan's own EVV rules. If you bill a plan for home health, ask that plan how it handles claims with missing EVV data.

What is changing next for Washington EVV?

We did not find a confirmed upcoming change to Washington EVV as of our last check. The 2026 denial schedule for personal care and respite is fully in effect, so it is a current rule and not a future one. Two smaller items are worth watching.

• Split shifts: the EVV Systems Requirements Guide says ProviderOne is expected to begin accepting separate claim lines for split shifts during 2026. No firm date was given.
• Home health redesign: in mid 2025 HCA described a redesign that would add a way to submit home health EVV data as a standard file, for both fee for service and managed care. HCA had aimed to make a decision in 2025, and we did not find a published decision, file layout or start date. Treat it as a proposal until HCA says otherwise.

Home health agencies should also watch for a notice from HCA that ends the technical assistance period, since that would settle the question of claim denials.

Washington EVV sources

• Washington DSHS: Electronic Visit Verification
• DSHS Management Bulletin H25-064: EVV systems requirements and EVV edit schedule
• Washington State EVV Systems Requirements Guide
• DSHS: Filling out the roster template
• Washington HCA: Home health care services Electronic Visit Verification
• Washington HCA: Home Health Services billing guide (effective October 1, 2025)
• Washington HCA: Home health EVV FAQ
• Washington HCA: Home health EVV redesign presentation (June 2025)

Related reading

• EVV Aggregators Explained: A Simple Guide for Home Care Providers
• The Benefits of Using 3rd-Party EVV Software
• EVV Software Demo Checklist: What to Ask and Test Before You Buy
• Essential EVV Software Features: A Checklist for Home Care Agencies
• What is EVV Software?
• EVV requirements for every state (map)

Page history

• October 8, 2026: Page rewritten and checked against state sources.

This page is a reference, not legal advice. State rules change, so confirm details with the state before you act on them.

Ankota provides EVV software for Medicaid home care agencies. If you would like to talk through Washington's requirements, contact Ankota or read more about Ankota's EVV software.