PA to Request Good Faith Effort Exemption to Delay Implementation of EVV
ODP Announcement 19-150 is to inform stakeholders that Pennsylvania will formally request a Good Faith Effort (GFE) Exemption from CMS to delay the implementation of the electronic visit verification (EVV) mandate. More time is needed in order to allow providers to fully prepare for EVV. ODP has heard from many providers who are using Alternate EVV systems and have been working with Sandata to certify their systems for integration with the DHS Aggregator. Since the time for certification is taking longer than originally projected, the Department is seeking an extension to allow additional time for these systems to go through the necessary testing with Sandata and become integrated to feed EVV data to the DHS Aggregator.
The Department is seeking a GFE to extend the soft launch period and to delay the denial of payments. The timeframe between system launch and the EVV mandate is referred to as the soft launch. The soft launch is an opportunity to:
- Test and interface Alternate EVV systems
- Familiarize providers with EVV prior to claims integration. Claims will continue to pay and EVV errors will appear on remittance advice.
- Inform policy and system development
- Help the Department identify and develop supplemental training materials
- Facilitate EVV participation by caregivers and members
If approved by CMS, the GFE will allow the Department to extend the soft launch period and implement a tiered compliance structure before the denial of payments. EVV system implementation, training, and vendor interfacing will proceed on the current project schedule. Since the exemption has not yet been approved, providers are still required to begin using EVV by January 1, 2020. Provider participation will produce valuable data for system modification and policy development.
Please visit the DHS EVV website to view the ODP EVV technical guidance, public meeting notices, training resources, and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
