For Immediate Release:
Sept. 28, 2020
Media Contacts:
Amy Webb
Chief of Communications
[email protected]
Marci Manley
Deputy Chief of Communications
[email protected]
Personal Care Aides Must Enroll in Arkansas Medicaid's Electronic Visit Verification System
About 3,000 individuals who provide care to Medicaid clients still need to sign up
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — Aides who provide in-home personal care, attendant care, and respite services to Medicaid clients need to enroll as a provider in Arkansas Medicaid to get a Practioner Identification Number (PIN), which will allow them to use the state’s new Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) system as required by federal law.
EVV is a secure system that will be used by in-home care aides to verify and document all Medicaid personal care services provided during an in-home visit under the Arkansas Medicaid state plan and home- and community-based programs, including ARChoices, Independent Choices, and personal care.
Aides who work for a provider agency must sign up by Sept. 30. Aides who work for clients who self-direct their care through Independent Choices have until Oct. 31 to sign up and get their PIN.
Providers can use EVV to help facilitate scheduling and billing. The benefits of EVV can include:
- Caregivers spending less time doing paperwork
- Faster and more accurate billing and payments
- Easier scheduling and better coordination of care
- Improved patient care because of fewer missed visits and late starts
- Real-time monitoring and reporting can help reduce fraud
The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), estimates that about 3,000 of the 11,000 aides who currently provide services to Medicaid clients still need to enroll as an Arkansas Medicaid provider so that they can use EVV. DHS has been working for the last several months to implement the new system, sign-up agencies and aides, and begin training.
“While agency providers who employ personal care aides have already enrolled as Medicaid providers, EVV requires that the aides themselves be enrolled individually so they can get a PIN and document the services they provide. This includes aides who work with self-directed clients in the Independent Choices program,” said Janet Mann, Director of the DHS Division of Medical Services. “So, we need all of those who haven’t signed up, to take that step. It only takes a few minutes to complete the request form.”
Beginning December 4, 2020, claims only will be paid if those services are entered in the EVV system and the aide has been enrolled in Arkansas Medicaid.
Aides who work with a client who self-directs his or her care, should complete a paper request form that can be obtained from their employer or Palco.
Aides who work as an agency provider who still need to enroll can enroll online using the Arkansas Medicaid Provider Portal at:
https://portal.mmis.arkansas.gov/armedicaid/provider/Home/ProviderEnrollment/tabid/477/Default.aspx
When using the Provider Portal, aides should enter the following to begin the application for enrollment:
- Enrollment type is “atypical”
- Provider type is “95” — registered, non-credentialed provider
- Specialty code is “NT” — registered, non-credentialed
- Tax ID is the caregiver’s Social Security Number
A paper form is also available here. If aides or providers have questions about EVV or need help enrolling, they can call 1-800-457-4454 between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. (Monday-Friday).
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