05 Feb Washington Electronic Visit Verification
EVV has been mandated for the state of Washington for home health care services. As of the implementation 2024 implementation date, Electronic visit verification is required for all homecare services administered within the state. When is the official start date? What specific types of care and organizations does it apply to, and what are the requirements? Are agencies free to use any EVV software provider system? In this blog we will explore and answer all of those questions as we focus on all aspects of Washington state Electronic Visit Verification.
Click here for information on compatible Washington EVV Software
Electronic Visit Verification for Washington Agencies
To review Alora’s EVV System for Washington, click here.
Washington Electronic Visit Verification Information
Nationwide EVV mandates were created out of a need for coordinated compliance with the requirements established within the 21st Century Cures Act. The Federal 21st Century Cures Act (2016) required that U.S. states including Washington State, implement an electronic visit verification (EVV) system for agencies delivering certain types of care (home health care and personal care services although some states require EVV for additional types of care as well). Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) software by definition is a system designed to electronically capture and verify provider visit information.
When does EVV start in Washington State?
The official implementation date was January 1, 2024
What is EVV and what are the requirements?
Beginning on January 1, 2024, there are three new required data elements for electronic visit verification within the state. These data elements align with the requirements set forth by the 21st Century Cures Act. These data element requirements include:
- Type of service performed
- The individual receiving the service
- Date the service was performed
- The location of service delivery
- The individual providing the service
- The time the service begins and ends
The Washington state DCHS requires that the data elements be submitted with the claim either via direct data entry (DDE) or the 837i. The data elements indicated as “existing” are currently required and Home Health agencies are submitting those currently. The data elements indicated as “new” are the new requirements for Home Health agencies to include in claims submittals.
What agencies in the state are required to use EVV?
In the state of Washington, any care worker providing personal care and/or respite care services funded by Medicaid payments for a client who lives in a home or private residence environment (excluding institutional, residential, or hospital care settings) and receives payments for these in-home care services must use a compliant and compatible Electronic Visit Verification system for Washington.
- This includes the employees of both Home Care Agencies and the Consumer Directed Employer (CDE), who is the legal employer of all Individual Providers (IP) in the state of Washington which was effective as of 6/1/2022.
- Individual Providers, employed by the CDE, who Live WITH their clients are not required to use EVV (This exception doesn’t apply to contracted Home Care Agency employees and caregiving staff. All Home Care Agency caregiving employees must use EVV for shifts worked).
- If you do NOT live with your client, you must use EVV. The required data elements must be captured at the time of service provision, and included with claims submissions sent by the employing agency, whether it is the CDE or another Home Care Agency. For more information about the EVV exception and requirements, read on.
*learn more by visiting the website of the Washington State dept of Social and Health Services here
What EVV system can I use?
Click here to review Alora’s Compatible system for Washington EVV
LEARN MORE ABOUT HOME HEALTH SOFTWARE WITH BUILT-IN EVV FOR WASHINGTON
Washington home health and personal care agencies are free to choose any compliant EVV system for Washington, Alora provides agencies in the state with an award-winning solution, consistently rated as the easiest to use by caregivers and managers alike. Alora is a compatible EVV system for Washington Medicaid EVV protocols. Caregivers can complete visits on their smartphones or tablets…while administrators can enjoy the power of managing the entire agency from the convenience of their mobile devices or desktop computers. Alora was engineered with the expertise of real home health professionals and software technology experts, resulting in an extraordinarily easy-to-use software system. With free training and an easy to use interface, agency adoption is seamless and quick.
INTEGRATED AUTOMATIC EVV DATA TRANSMISSION
As a compatible vendor for Washington Medicaid EVV and the Washington State Health Care Authority, Alora automatically transmits EVV information to the state for visits completed as planned. For visits that need manual review, such as a caregiver forgetting to clock out, Alora queues the visits for manual review and approval before transmission.
Alora ensures compliance with Washington’s EVV requirements, with a built-in solution accessible within your main Alora Home Health Software. When everything is in one place, running your agency becomes easier.
Features & Benefits of Alora
- Live-Monitor visit activities and avoid the possibility of lost revenue due to no-shows
- Enjoy faster billing – completed visits are automatically readied for billing and payroll through Alora’s EVV automation
- Ensures patients are administered the planned medically necessary services
- Go paperless with Alora’s Plan of Care based visit notes
- Eliminate the inefficiency associated with manual data entry
- Centralize workflow into one complete solution for WA Home Health Care & EVV
- Improve the efficiency of home health aides & caregivers during and post-visit
- Reduce the chances of errors in documentation
Visit the following link to learn more about Alora’s complete software for WA home health agencies.
Alora’s dynamic emr for home health system features an integrated EVV solution that offers compatibility with the Washington Health Care Authority and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Alora’s EVV protocols offer an enhanced EVV solution that is fully integrated into a powerful Home Health Software for Washington agencies.
REQUEST INFORMATION FOR ALORA’S WASHINGTON EVV SYSTEM
More about ALORA
Alora makes work life easier for both administrators and caregivers. The benefits of having Electronic Visit Verification fully integrated within Alora’s Washington homecare software system begin with the fact that Alora already houses visit information from the point the caregiver arrives at a patient’s home. Upon their arrival at a patient’s residence, caregivers can simply press “Start Visit” and proceed with patient care.
Stand-alone EVV systems lack prior data from the visit, lack information on a client’s Medicaid ID, and lack agency information, caregiver identity, and details of the services being provided. Caregivers are forced to enter all of this information upon arrival, wasting time and raising the risk of manual entry mistakes. A state-approved system requires extensive training and the hassle of navigating EVV data in two separate systems. Alora’s EVV solution removes these burdens from agencies with a centralized interface designed for both agency admin and caregiver ease. Caregivers can use Alora EVV on their mobile device of choice.
ALORA offers: Telephony Automation for Added Assurance – An All-in-One Solution for Washington Home Health Care – An Award-Winning Solution for Productivity, Efficiency, and Financial Success
THE ALORA HOME HEALTH BLOG
Read the Alora blog and website to learn more about home health software for Washington, Washington compatible EVV, and recent news, articles, and commentaries, as well as other issues that pertain to Connecticut Home healthcare in the state and beyond. For more information on our blog, or for questions or feedback, please send us an email to HomeHealthSoftware@AloraHealth.com
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