EVV verifies that your home care services were performed appropriately. Moreover, it is required by law per the 21st Century Cures Act. You need to have electronic proof of the following items to be compliant.

Your home care software needs integrated EVV. The most common EVV methods are Mobile Apps that verify location by GPS, and voice telephony that verifies location via caller ID (ANI). The alternate method is a token device (FOB) placed in the home.

EVV via an Offline Mobile App is critical to compliance. EVV is mandatory, but not all home care recipients have land-line phones nor do they have good mobile coverage in the home. The solution is an EVV mobile app that works offline

Medicaid programs are administered at the state level. Each state makes its own decisions on how to administer their EVV program. To find out how EVV is implemented in your state, click here. Outlined below are three key models.

The most basic and simple home care scheduling approach is to set up recurring weekly patterns of care. For example, if Jasmine sees Mrs. Johnson on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, you click on the calendar on their first day (e.g. Monday), enter the times, click the other days (Wednesday and Friday) and save that as the pattern.

If you deliver consumer directed services, your scheduling software should let you assign caregivers to the consumer and create visits when they clock in. This gives the consumer control over the schedule, while you as the agency owner can provide oversight. 

Another home care scheduling model is appointment booking. This is often used for assessments, and occasional specialty visits such as case management or phlebotomy. Your software needs to propose specific available time slots to the consumer.

The best home care scheduling software has powerful scheduling features for filling open shifts, scheduling periodic assessments and case management visits, and optimizing routes in order to minimize driving time and maximize the time for care

Your home care software needs to manage authorized units. Units are generally 15-minute blocks of care. Medicaid will tell you how many units of care you can deliver in a week month or other time period. You should schedule to use all authorized units without going over.

All Medicaid programs require you to have home care software with electronic visit verification. This is a fraud prevention mandate signed into law in the 21st Century Cures Act. Visit our EVV page for more information. Key EVV features are as follows:

In order to bill Medicaid, your software needs to submit electronic claims or visit records that include proof of EVV. Ultimately the claims are processed by Medicaid or their chosen MCOs and you will receive payment accompanied by Electronic Remittance Advice. Then you need to reconcile your accounts. 

Each state Medicaid program has different requirements for its home care agencies. This can include special rounding rules, care plans, specific EVV rules, claim submission rules, required documentation and more. Be sure to consult your state’s Medicaid site for specific rules. Here are some key features you should look for.

To start, you need all the “basics” of home care software including client management, care plans, caregiver management, scheduling, caregiver EVV telephony and mobile apps, billing and payroll

The strongest and fastest growing private duty home care agencies cultivate relationships with referral sources and cultivate those lead sources in order to grow. Your home care software needs to track referral sources and leads.

The best way to keep your revenue flowing from your private duty agency clients is to be able to accept payments via credit card or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). Your home care software should accept credit card payments.

One tough challenge for home care agencies is staying connected with the families of the clients you care for (who are often paying the bills). You need ways to stay in tough and keep families abreast of their loved-one’s care.