Agencies managing growing HCBS programs face unique challenges not found in other programs. Home and community-based services (HCBS) provide opportunities for Medicaid beneficiaries to receive services in their own home or community outside of facilities. These programs serve a variety of targeted populations, such as people with mental illnesses, intellectual or developmental disabilities, and/or physical disabilities at remote locations where staff are working relatively unsupervised.
Vocational workshop programs are being slowly phased out or defunded in favor of HCBS programs. For agencies who have never managed an HCBS program before, it will be a new world with new challenges.
The growth of HCBS coincides with wider use of Managed Care and Fee-for-Service. Agencies relying on paper timesheets or ineffective attendance systems are increasingly at risk. Agencies need to be able to manage billing outcomes and cash flow on a faster cycle than before, which means real-time information is a necessity.
What is Electronic Visit Verification (EVV)?
Electronic visit verification is widely used by agencies and government entities. Agencies use it for compliance and quality assurance, to verify employee’s locations, complete documentation, verify hours of work for payroll and billing, and streamline payroll and billing.
The two main technologies used for EVV are Telephone Timekeeping with Caller-ID verification and Web Clock with GPS verification. Both technologies have their advantages and disadvantages. Both are generally acceptable to Medicaid auditors in preference to paper timesheets, as long as the technology is compliant with Medicaid regulations for electronic documentation.
This ebook explores the real-time information required by EVV, explains how EVV works in practice, discusses the experiences of multiple agencies who have successfully utilized EVV, and includes the different approaches states have taken when mandating EVV.