Overview

21st Century CURES Act requires states to implement an EVV (Electronic Visit Verification) system for Home Care Agencies providing Medicaid funded Home Care Services. The original plan was to implement EVV for Personal Care Services (PCS) by January 01, 2021, and Home Health Care Services (HHCS) by January 1, 2023. Even though states have postponed implementation dates due to COVID, most states require EVV for PCS starting January 01, 2023. EVV requirements for skilled services will soon follow.

Home Care Agencies providing Home and Community-Based Services face many challenges in implementing EVV solutions to meet CURES Act requirements. Home Care Agencies should take a holistic approach to implementing EVV solutions rather the settling for the solutions provided by the state or managed care providers. Taking an integrated approach will improve operational efficiency and the agencies' bottom line.

EVV Challenges for Home Care Agencies

One of the main challenges for home care agencies is deciding whether to use state-provided EVV solutions instead of agency management software. Even though using the free EVV option is tempting, there might be more efficient options for the agency. Using one software for EVV and another for EVV will lead to duplication of efforts and data entry errors. Using multiple software solutions will result in increased costs to the agency, impacting the bottom line of the agency.

Some states have more than one managed care payer. Each payer may require agencies to use a different EVV provider. Using multiple EVV solutions will require training employees in more solutions leading to increased errors and costs.

Most EVV provided by state-selected EVV aggregators does not have the breadth to support skilled services like Private Duty Nursing.

Home Care Agencies with operations in multiple states will have to use different EVV solutions in each state, resulting in operational inefficiencies and increased costs.

Using more than one solution to meet all EVV requirements will also lead to silos of clinical and financial information, making it very difficult to manage operations efficiently.

Practical Home Care Software Platform for EVV

integrated platform

Home Care agencies should take a holistic view of their needs for a software platform rather than just focusing on their EVV needs. Using an integrated home care software platform to meet a home care agency's requirements, including EVV, will significantly improve operational efficiency and the bottom line.

workflow

An integrated Home Care Software Platform that makes EVV part of the regular workflow will be the most efficient way to implement EVV in a home care agency.

The software should also support all the home-based services (Skilled and Non-Medical) and meet EVV requirements.

framework

The software platform should have the framework to interface with all EVV Aggregators for states or managed care payers. Using ONE software to meet all the EVV requirements will improve the agency's operational efficiency and bottom line. Using ONE software will also maintain the continuity of operations when aggregators change or the agency expands operations to other states.

ONE Software

An integrated home care software for EVV and agency management will keep all clinical, financial, scheduling, and EVV information in one place. This will also make managing payers or any other changes efficient, improving the cash flow for the agency.

Multiple EVV Options

An effective EVV software solution should be able to support multiple options to collect EVV data.

GPS with Smart Phones: The primary option will be to collect EVV information using smart phones in connected mode. If the connectivity is not available, an offline option should be available to collect EVV data.

Telephony: When GPS option is not available, the software should support the option to verify visits using patient’s landline phone.

Fixed Visit Verification (FVV): When either of these options is not available, the software should support an option to electronically capture a code from a device that is mounted at patient’s home. The code will translate to date and time for clock in and clock out.

Verification

Home Care Software should be able to check the status of the submitted EVV records before sending claims to the payer. Making sure EVV records are in place with the state before submitting claims will reduce claim denials and improve reimbursement time.

Conclusion

An effective EVV Home Care Software solution should make EVV part of the regular workflow, support one or more lines of home care services under ONE patient, interface with multiple state EVV aggregators and integrate billing with EVV.

ABOUT CAREVOYANT

CareVoyant is a leading provider of cloud-based integrated enterprise-scale home health care software that can support all home-based services under ONE Software, ONE Patient, and ONE Employee, making it a Single System of Record. We support all home based services, including Home Care, Private Duty Nursing, Private Duty Non-Medical, Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), Home Health, Pediatric Home Care, and Outpatient Therapy at Home.

CareVoyant functions – Intake, Authorization Management, Scheduling, Clinical with Mobile options, eMAR/eTAR, Electronic Visit Verification (EVV), Billing/AR, Secure Messaging, Notification, Reporting, and Dashboards – streamline workflow, meet regulatory requirements, improve quality of care, optimize reimbursement, improve operational efficiency and agency bottom line.

For more information, please visit CareVoyant.com or call us at 1-888-463-6797.