New York -- March 25, 2024
Home care agencies who are paid through by Medicaid know that Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) is a fundamental practice in home care agencies. EVV is used to verify home care visits, noting down the start and the end of a shift for the purpose of accurate claims disbursement and to provide assurance that patients are receiving the care that they are entitled to. EVV reduces billing and payroll mistakes, the risk of fraud and abuse, and minimizing paper uses. EVV is crucial for home care agencies, where errors could reduce funding and hurt the reputation of the home care agency.
Carecenta is completely EVV compliant, and can help with DOH audits and Medicaid claims. With our scheduling, roster availability, and direct messaging features, owners and caregivers can easily fulfill the requirements for EVV. Through these features, a home care agency owner can make sure that all patients and shifts are accounted for.
“But,” you might say, “my home care agency is private payer. I don’t need Carecenta’s EVV feature because I do not need to submit any documentation to the DOH. I’m perfectly fine using Excel to keep track of my caregivers and patients.”
That might be true that you don’t need EVV. But you should still consider it as a feature if only to protect yourself and your agency from liability, reputational damage, and errors that will cost you time and money.
How?
Imagine that one of your clients is Sandra who is paying for her mother Katherine’s nonmedical care. One day the caregiver Lisa just didn't show up. Katherine fell on the floor and broke her hip. Lisa’s shift was for twelve hours, and Katherine was lying on the floor in agony for twelve hours.
Sandra calls you irate demanding to know why no one was there to provide care for her mother. She vows to leave bad reviews on Glassdoor and other review sites. She calls a lawyer about filing a lawsuit. Now all of a sudden a previously happy client is withdrawing her business, leaving negative feedback, and now can put you at risk for a costly litigation experience. The home care agency has 100% liability after this incident. It will be hard, if not impossible, to find an insurance company who will insure for general liability or malpractice.
This situation could have been avoided with Carecenta’s EVV technology. Within the management software, you would have real-time verification of your caregiver’s arrival and starting of their shift. And you would have internal messaging to make sure that you are not missing crucial messages. The EVV can protect your agency from fraudulent practices such as inflating hours or providing care below your high standard for care.The system can be a shield for insurance audits, lawsuits, and other unpleasant processes.
Even if your home care agency doesn’t need an EVV model within your management system, it is still useful to have one. For one thing it can automate your check-ins for your caregivers, ensure highest quality of care, prevent hours from being overly billed, and maintain the integrity and high reputation of your home care agency.