New Electronic Visit Verification System for In-Home Nursing

Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) is a system that electronically documents the time and location of care that in-home nurses provide.

We have an important update about the in-home nursing services that Home Care Program families receive.

Your nursing agency must now comply with the Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) system. This system ensures accurate tracking of home-based healthcare visits. Your nursing agency may have mentioned EVV to you already.

We want to make sure you understand what EVV is and how it affects you and your nursing agency.

What is EVV?

EVV is a system that electronically documents the time and location of care that in-home nurses provide. Using GPS coordinates, EVV automatically collects shift clock-in and clock-out times and locations to access information on care delivery in real time.

The EVV system verifies:

• The nursing service provided
• The participant receiving the service
• The nurse or Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) providing the service
• The date and location of service delivery
• The service start and end times

This information helps ensure there are no care gaps throughout the service schedule. It also helps make sure that nursing hours are billed accurately toward participant nursing hours allocations.

The EVV system overall helps ensure greater transparency and accountability for both caregivers and recipients.

Why is this important to my family? 

The EVV system allows for better tracking than paper time sheets or agency charting that Illinois Medicaid cannot access. This improved tracking allows for better program quality assurance monitoring and access to quality care.

When your nursing staff clock in or out with EVV, it ensures accurate times are available. Therefore, only the true amount worked is billed against your nursing hours allocation.

There is nothing your family needs to do with the new EVV system.

How does this affect my nursing agency?

As a federal requirement under the 21^st Century Cures Act, Illinois Home and Community-Based Waiver programs began phasing in EVV on Jan. 1, 2024.

Following months of townhalls, resources, and flexibility, the official compliance period for EVV begins on Oct. 31, 2024.

All nursing agencies enrolled with the Division of Specialized Care for Children (DSCC) will have six months to reach 50 percent compliance and one year to reach and maintain at least 75 percent compliance.

We are helping agencies reach compliance through outreach, education, and remediation plans, if necessary.

All agencies have access to technical support through the state’s EVV vendor, HHAeXchange. You can find more details on the:

• Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) EVV webpage
• Illinois’ Electronic Visit Verification webpage
• DSCC’s EVV Information and Resources page

We are working with nursing agencies to make this transition as smooth as possible. 

Questions? 

If you have any questions, please contact your DSCC Care Coordinator. You may also call us at (800) 322-3722 or email dscc@uic.edu.