31 states have filed for the Good Faith Effort Extension, giving them until 1/1/2021 to fully implement Electronic Visit Verification (EVV). A year may sound like a long time, but agencies shouldn’t wait until the last minute to get EVV going. Starting your EVV implementation with time to spare will save your agency, your caregivers and your clients some major headaches. Here are 5 reasons why it’s a good idea to launch EVV before 2021:
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Learning a new process takes time. People are often reluctant to adopt change, so you may receive some pushback when first introducing EVV. Make sure you give everyone enough time to accept the change and become comfortable with learning something new. Stay diligent! Once they have had time to adjust, protests will cease and EVV will become the new norm.
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Everyone will need training – even you. Your staff, caregivers and care recipients will look to you for guidance on implementing new software and practices. Take the time to absorb as much knowledge as you can so you feel confident helping others navigate the process and the new technology involved. Most EVV vendors will provide courses, videos and documentation that you can pass along to help with training.
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Leave room for troubleshooting. Dive into the EVV process and learn what works and what doesn’t. What are some issues you can foresee? How are these dealt with? Who do you contact when things go awry? Get comfortable enough to feel confident working with live data. It is important to recognize that certain aspects may not directly match your processes and may remain manual. Don’t let that stress you out. It is expected that some agencies may need to modify how new software integrates.
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Build in time to launch a pilot. Start with a small group of caregivers and their care recipients to launch with EVV. This will help you solidify the true process, pinpoint commonly asked questions and sort out any kinks. This will help you feel prepared to launch the rest of your group and fully implement EVV.
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Ensure compliance before it is required. Once you officially launch your entire agency with EVV, you’ll want sometime to ensure everything runs smoothly. Are you accurately collecting information to remain compliant? Are you able to successfully bill from your EVV date?
Make things easy on yourself, your staff, and your clients by starting EVV with plenty of time to spare. Good luck with your journey! Watch for more posts and updates regarding EVV on our blog at pavillio.com.