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Electronic Visit Verification – Update
August 19, 2019
Background:
The federal government passed the “21st Century CURES Act” in December 2016. This act requires Medicaid/Medicaid Waiver programs to implement an Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) system for Personal Care and Home Health-type services. Therefore, all states must implement an EVV system to avoid a reduction in federal Medicaid funding, which would have a negative impact on Personal Care and Home Health-type services received by Colorado constituents who receive services through Medicaid/Medicaid Waiver.
The intended benefits of Colorado’s new EVV system are:
- Enhanced care coordination by provider agencies;
- Reduction in billing errors and improvement in payment accuracy; and,
- Improved health and safety of individuals receiving services by validating that the services have occurred.
During August 2019, Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) requested a good faith extension from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to delay EVV implementation in Colorado. However, even if the extension is granted, HCPF is requesting that provider agencies voluntarily start utilizing EVV effective 1/1/2020 with a ‘soft start’. A soft start will allow provider agencies and the state to work through implementation issues before the EVV system is tied to billing.
These services* will require the use of EVV:
- Behavioral Therapies
- Consumer Directed Attendant Support Services
- Durable Medical Equipment (requiring in-home set up)
- Home Health Services
- Homemaker (Basic and Enhanced)
- Hospice
- Independent Living Skills Training
- In-Home Support Services
- Pediatric Personal Care
- Personal Care
- Physical Therapy (provided in the home)
- Private Duty Nursing
- Respite (provided in the home or community)
- Speech Therapy (provided in the home)
- Youth Day
*Per HCPF, this list is subject to change
How it will work
Provider agencies have the option to choose their own electronic data collection system for EVV or they will need to install a state-funded/approved app (Mobile Visit Verification – MVV) from Sandata. Foothills Gateway has chosen the state-funded/approved app and this app will be installed on staff’s phones and will log the times services were provided by the staff and the location of the service. Mobile Visit Verification (MVV) is a GPS enabled mobile application downloaded on a smartphone or tablet and is a “bring your own device” method that works on iPhone and Android. MVV is GPS enabled and captures location when a staff person clocks-in/clocks-out. The application does not continue to report staff’s location once they clock out. The Sandata ID MVV application is available in English, Spanish, Somali, Russian, Chinese Mandarin, and Arabic Egyptian.
In the event that the agency staff person does not have a smartphone or tablet for installing the MVV app, Telephony Visit Verification (TVV) is another option for clocking in and clocking out. When using this option, agency staff would call one of two toll-free, multi-language numbers – both numbers are accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The TVV is non-GPS, therefore the landline of the person receiving services is the preferred phone to use.
As the state finalizes the EVV rules, Foothills Gateway will continue to provide ongoing EVV updates every few months! For more information, the State of Colorado has developed a new website for EVV: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/hcpf/evv