Program providers and financial management services agencies (FMSAs) must review the dates in this notice. These dates are related to the transition to the HHAeXchange Portal, which is the new, single and state-funded Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) system effective October 1.
Key Details:
Effective Dates for Using the HHAeXchange Portal
Begin using the HHAeXchange Portal on October 1, if you received HHAeXchange system credentials and completed required trainings by September 22.
All others must complete their HHAeXchange onboarding as soon as possible to begin using the HHAeXchange Portal on November 1 and continue using your current EVV system to record visits.
Please note that program providers and FMSAs who are not an approved PSO and do not complete onboarding to begin using the HHAeXchange Portal on November 1 will automatically be transitioned to HHAeXchange from their current EVV vendor system (DataLogic/Vesta or First Data/AuthentiCare). Take action now by completing the HHAeXchange onboarding:
- Submit the HHAeXchange Provider Onboarding Form.
- Complete HHAeXchange Learning Management System (LMS) training.
- HHAeXchange will issue user credentials for their LMS portal within three business days of submission of the HHAeXchange Provider Onboarding Form.
HHAeXchange will issue system user credentials for the HHAeXchange Portal after the program provider or FMSA has completed EVV system training on the HHAeXchange LMS training portal. Please allow 5 business days to receive your login credentials.
Program providers and FMSAs who will be new to EVV, due to the Cures Act Home Health Care Services implementation, must submit the HHAeXchange Provider Onboarding Form by October 31. However, it’s recommended to complete the form as soon as possible to be able to practice using EVV before the January 1, 2024, implementation.
Reference the HHAeXchange Technical Support section below if you have questions or issues related to onboarding.
EVV Claims Matching Bypass – October 1 – December 31
EVV Policy states that all EVV claims for services required to use EVV must match to an accepted EVV visit transaction in the EVV Aggregator (the state’s centralized EVV database) before reimbursement of an EVV claim by the payer.
To help providers throughout the HHAeXchange transition, HHSC will bypass EVV claims matching for dates of service October 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. This means payers will not deny EVV claims that do not have a matching EVV visit for these dates of service.
During this period, program providers, FMSAs and Consumer Directed Services (CDS) employers and service providers must use the EVV system to record visits, including manual visits. Failure to use the EVV system to record visits may result in recoupments.
EVV Compliance Grace Period for Personal Care Services Has Extended to May 31, 2024
HHSC has extended the compliance reviews grace period for EVV Usage and EVV Landline Phone Verification reviews for personal care services. The extended grace period is from July 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024.
The additional time will allow for program providers and FMSAs, who are onboarding with HHAeXchange or as a Proprietary System Operator (PSO), to focus on transitioning efforts.
Payers will continue to conduct EVV compliance reviews and send compliance notifications, however, HHSC and managed care organizations (MCOs) will not take enforcement actions against program providers, FMSAs or CDS employers who do not meet the compliance requirements during the grace period.
Data Transfer from Current EVV Vendor Systems (Vesta and AuthentiCare)
HHAeXchange is receiving and uploading daily data from current EVV vendor systems, DataLogic Vesta and First Data AuthentiCare, into the HHAeXchange Provider Portal. This includes historical visit and profile data.
Although imported data may continue to load, you may manually enter or update data directly in the HHAeXchange Provider Portal. This will not overwrite data that attempts to be imported from Vesta or AuthentiCare. Some values can be updated if it contains inaccurate data.
HHAeXchange is importing the following historical data:
- Up to five years data of:
- Members
- CDS Employers
- Service Providers/CDS Employees
- Authorizations
- Up to one year of Accepted Visits – visit data is loaded oldest to newest, starting with October 2022
The following items will not be imported and must be entered manually:
- Visit Schedules
- Pending, New and Rejected Visits
- Billing Dx Code
- Portal Users
- Services Portal Users
Reference the HHAeXchange Technical Support section below if you have questions or issues related to data transfer or manually entering data.
Complete Visit Maintenance before December 22
Program providers, FMSAs and CDS employers must complete all required visit maintenance (manual, pending or rejected visits) within 95 days from the date of service delivery.
By December 22, users of DataLogic Vesta and First Data AuthentiCare must complete visit maintenance for visits captured in those systems. This includes submitting Visit Maintenance Unlock Requests (VMURs). Please act now before losing access.
Visit maintenance for visits captured in the HHAeXchange Portal will be completed in the HHAeXchange Portal or will require a VMUR, if applicable.
HHAeXchange Technical Support
For questions about HHAeXchange onboarding, technical help with using the HHAeXchange Portal or issues related to data, contact HHAeXchange at TXsupport@hhaexchange.com or by phone at 1-833-430-1307.
Next steps for Providers:
Providers should share this communication with their staff.
Community First Resources:
Contact:
Email ProviderRelations@cfhp.com or call 210-358-6294.