What is Electronic Visit Verification?

Life goes on in healthcare, and one of the things we all have to deal with is implementing government-mandated policies for care providers.

In this case, the law is the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, and the policy is Electronic Visit Verification, or EVV.

The 21st Century Cures Act is a very wide-ranging piece of legislation. One of its requirements is that that all state Medicare programs must implement an EVV program for personal care services and home healthcare services or face a reduction in federal Medicaid reimbursements.

The purpose of EVV is to help combat errors and fraud in Medicare compensation, and to collect vital healthcare usage data for scientific purposes.

Providers using EVV record their visits on dedicated devices such as a visit clock or check-in station at the care facility, or via a GPS-enabled app on their smart phone or tablet if they are visiting a patient at their home or other remote location.

The EVV system will specifically capture:

• Identity of service provider
• Date, time, and location, of healthcare service call
• Identity of care recipient
• Duration of service visit
• Type of care or service provided

Data collected the EVV recording device helps verify, automate and simplify timekeeping for service provider compensation, and also rapidly provides detailed and accurate demographic and service utilization information to agency management and to state and federal Medicaid researchers.

After extensive review of available EVV solutions, New York State has chosen to implement the Choice Model.
The Choice Model recognizes that there are many qualified EVV systems on the market, and allows users, institutions and service providers to select the EVV provider that best meets their unique needs.

Many health care agencies have already chosen a reporting system. Because EVV can be part of a comprehensive care delivery management solution, many additional features may be included in addition to simple date, time and location recording.

These features may include:

• Visit verification by multiple means, including device GPS, digital signatures, “tap ‘n’ go” timeclocks
• Provider photo capture for identification, security and safety purposes
• Detailed information on service visits for both caregivers and their managers
• Point-of-care recordkeeping, including services performed, clinical assessments, and patient status
• Tools for managing unscheduled visits, unplanned or emergency care, patient location changes, and shared care
• Secure, broadcast messaging from management to care providers
• Private, HIPAA-compliant communications between care team members
• GPS-supported travel assistance, including directions to destinations for client’s daily activities of living
• Integrated note-keeping function for sharing client status, alerts, and notes with other support team members
• Ability to attach photo and file attachments to reports
• Management tools, including real-time monitoring of staff location, utilization, and engagement
• Up-to-the-minute management of caregiver schedules, vacations, absences and shift changes
• Transportation recordkeeping, including mileage compensation for out-of-home visits, trips to care-related facilities, trips to and from the caregiver agency, and other incidental travel
• Tracking of key performance indicators (KPIs), to ensure care quality requirements are met
• Quick and accurate management of current and historical care and service plans

… and many more functions to meet a wide variety of care provider and administrative needs.

What Does This Mean for Me?
Platinum Home Healthcare is planning to roll out EVV to its home healthcare service providers well in advance of the 2023 deadline.

This will involve providing the EVV app for smartphone or tablet to all care providers, integrating point-of-care recording devices such as time clocks or check-in stations where appropriate, and providing comprehensive training on how to get the most out of these tools.

In addition, during this transition period paper timesheets will no longer be supported. Platinum care providers must call in to report their travel, visit locations and service calls. Your supervisor will provide the necessary contact information.

We will be regularly seeking feedback from users to be sure that any issues with the software or our processes are quickly identified and addressed. Providers are encouraged to share any questions or concerns they may have, no matter how minor—or major—the question may be.

We are confident that these new tools will make your job easier.
Thank you for providing excellent care and service!