Electronic visit verification · Missouri
Electronic visit verification
Electronic visit verification — EVV — is an electronic record that a home visit took place. It is required by federal law for Medicaid personal care services, and it applies to Consumer Directed Services in Missouri as it does everywhere else.
Why is electronic visit verification required?
Section 12006 of the federal 21st Century Cures Act requires states to implement EVV for Medicaid personal care services, or face reductions in federal matching funds. Congress’s purpose was straightforward: personal care is delivered in private homes with no supervisor present, which made billing for visits that never happened both easy and common.
EVV is therefore not a Communicare Elite policy, a Missouri innovation, or something a vendor can waive. Any provider offering to let you skip it is offering to break federal law on your behalf.
What information does EVV record?
Federal law specifies six data elements:
- The type of service performed.
- The individual receiving the service.
- The date of the service.
- The location of service delivery.
- The individual providing the service.
- The time the service begins and ends.
Does EVV track or record you at home?
This is the part that worries people, so it is worth being precise. EVV captures the beginning and end of an authorized visit. It is not a camera. It is not a microphone. It does not record what is said or done in the home. It does not track an attendant’s movements between visits or during their own time. It is a timestamp with a location, not surveillance of your household.
Using it correctly
Do
- Record the start when work begins.
- Record the end when work finishes.
- Record in real time, at the home.
- Report system failures the same day.
- Keep your own note of actual times if the system fails.
Do not
- Record a whole week at once from memory.
- Record from your own home or car.
- Let anyone else record under your name.
- Record a visit that did not happen.
- Leave a discrepancy unreported and hope.
What happens when EVV and the timesheet don’t match?
We reconcile them before payroll. A discrepancy holds the claim until it is resolved — which is inconvenient and is exactly the point. Tell us as soon as you know there is a problem; a same-day correction is routine, while a discrepancy discovered in an audit six months later is not.
Attendant guidance on EVV and timesheets →
What if EVV doesn’t work in your home?
Some homes have poor cell coverage, and some attendants are not comfortable with smartphones. Tell us rather than working around it — there are compliant alternatives, and improvising your own is what creates audit problems.
Trouble with EVV? Call before it becomes a pay problem.
Call us for a free consultation, or text us. We serve St. Louis City, St. Louis County and Missouri communities within about 40 miles of our office.
Frequently asked questions
What is electronic visit verification (EVV)?
EVV is an electronic record that a home visit took place. Section 12006 of the federal 21st Century Cures Act requires it for Medicaid personal care services, and it applies to Consumer Directed Services in Missouri. It records the type of service, who received it, the date, the location, who provided it, and when the visit began and ended.
Can a CDS vendor let you skip EVV?
No. EVV is not a Communicare Elite policy, a Missouri innovation or something a vendor can waive. Federal law requires it for Medicaid personal care services. Congress required it because personal care is delivered in private homes with no supervisor present. Any provider offering to let you skip it is offering to break federal law on your behalf.
What should an attendant do if the EVV system fails?
Report the failure to us the same day and keep your own note of the actual start and end times. Tell us rather than working around it. A same-day correction is routine, and there are compliant alternatives for homes with poor cell coverage. A discrepancy discovered in an audit six months later is not routine, and it holds the claim.
Can someone else clock in for an attendant?
No. Never let anyone else record a visit under your name. The attendant records the start when work begins and the end when work finishes, in real time, at the home. Do not record from your own home or car, do not record a whole week at once from memory, and never record a visit that did not happen.