<pre><code class="language-html">&lt;h1&gt;Washington EVV requirements for home care agencies, explained (2026)&lt;/h1&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In Washington, any home care agency paid by Medicaid for personal care, respite, or home health must use Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) — but the state does not mandate which EVV system you use.&lt;/strong&gt; Under the Department of Social and Health Services' "Provider Choice" model, you pick the system, and it must deliver six pieces of data about every visit to &lt;strong&gt;ProviderOne&lt;/strong&gt;, the state's EVV data aggregator. That one sentence explains most of what agency owners get wrong about EVV here.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;Who has to use EVV in Washington&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;EVV comes from the federal 21st Century Cures Act, which required states to verify Medicaid-funded personal care visits by January 1, 2020 and home health visits by January 1, 2023 (Washington's personal-care deadline landed on January 1, 2021 under a federal good-faith extension). In Washington the rule reaches:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Home care agencies&lt;/strong&gt; billing Medicaid for personal care or respite. DSHS is explicit that &lt;em&gt;all&lt;/em&gt; home care agency caregiving employees must use EVV for the shifts they work.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Home health agencies&lt;/strong&gt; billing the Health Care Authority (HCA) for Medicaid home health services. HCA runs home health EVV separately from DSHS.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Individual Providers (IPs)&lt;/strong&gt; employed through the Consumer Directed Employer, CDWA. IPs use CDWA's own app (CareAttend); agencies don't manage that side.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Private-pay visits are outside the mandate. Many agencies still record them the same way for one obvious reason: mixed caseloads are far easier to run with one workflow than two.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;The Provider Choice model: what it actually means&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Some states run a single mandatory EVV vendor. Washington chose not to. DSHS's position is that it "will not mandate which system is used"; instead, every system must transmit visit data to ProviderOne, which acts as the aggregator that matches visits against claims. Practically, that means your scheduling or agency-management software can be your EVV system — as long as it captures the required data and formats it the way ProviderOne expects.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The upside is real: you aren't forced into a second app that caregivers resent. The responsibility is also real: if your software's records don't line up with the data ProviderOne needs, the gap shows up as denied or delayed claims.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;The six data elements every visit must capture&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The federal rule, mirrored by Washington, requires each verified visit to record:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ol&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;type of service&lt;/strong&gt; performed&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;individual receiving&lt;/strong&gt; the service&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;date&lt;/strong&gt; of service&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;location&lt;/strong&gt; of service delivery&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;individual providing&lt;/strong&gt; the service&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;The &lt;strong&gt;time the service begins and ends&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Location is the element that trips up paper-and-phone processes. Washington accepts GPS capture from a mobile device at clock-in and clock-out, which is why mobile EVV has become the default for agencies.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;Who is exempt&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The clearest exemption is for &lt;strong&gt;live-in providers&lt;/strong&gt;: a caregiver who lives in the client's home isn't required to clock in and out for EVV purposes, because start and end times don't describe a live-in arrangement. (Note that as of July 2026 live-in caregivers &lt;em&gt;are&lt;/em&gt; covered by minimum wage and overtime — a separate rule; see our article on the Bolina decision.) Services delivered entirely outside the home, and non-Medicaid services, are also outside EVV.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;What to check in your EVV software&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you're choosing or auditing a system for Washington, these are the questions that matter:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does it capture all six elements automatically?&lt;/strong&gt; Service type should come from the scheduled visit, not from a caregiver picking from a list at the door.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is location GPS-verified at both ends of the visit?&lt;/strong&gt; Clock-in only leaves half the record.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can it produce ProviderOne-ready records?&lt;/strong&gt; Ask the vendor to show you an actual export or submission, not a slide.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What happens when a visit is missed or edited?&lt;/strong&gt; Corrections need a reason and an audit trail; regulators look at edit rates.&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Does the record feed billing directly?&lt;/strong&gt; The whole point is that the verified visit becomes the claim and the timesheet without re-keying.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;How CareWave handles Washington EVV&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;p&gt;CareWave is built around the six data elements. Caregivers clock in and out from the mobile app with GPS verification, the service type comes from the scheduled visit, and every record is formatted for your state's aggregator — in Washington, that means ProviderOne-ready records under the Provider Choice model. Verified hours flow straight into invoicing and payroll, so the EVV record and the claim are the same record.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p class="note"&gt;&lt;em&gt;This article is general information, not legal advice. EVV rules change; confirm current requirements with DSHS, HCA, and your own advisors.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;Sources&lt;/h2&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.dshs.wa.gov/altsa/stakeholders/electronic-visit-verification"&gt;DSHS — Electronic Visit Verification (Provider Choice model, ProviderOne)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.hca.wa.gov/billers-providers-partners/program-information-providers/home-health-care-services-electronic-visit-verification"&gt;Washington Health Care Authority — Home health EVV&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.hca.wa.gov/assets/billers-and-providers/wa-state-electronic-visit-verification-systems-requirement-guide.pdf"&gt;HCA — Washington EVV systems requirement guide (updated July 2026)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.consumerdirectwa.com/services/consumer-directed-employer-program/"&gt;Consumer Direct Care Network Washington — Consumer Directed Employer program&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;</code></pre>

How EVV works in Washington: the DSHS Provider Choice model, ProviderOne as the state aggregator, the 6 required elements, who's covered, and who's exempt.

Insights & resources

All articles

Washington EVV requirements for home care agencies, explained (2026)