EVV NJ Medicaid: Electronic Visit Verification for Home Care in New Jersey

If your parent receives Medicaid-funded home care in New Jersey — whether through an agency or the self-directed Personal Preference Program — Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) is mandatory. Every visit must be electronically logged with the caregiver's identity, location, start time, end time, and services provided. Missing or incomplete EVV records can delay paychecks, trigger compliance audits, and ultimately put your parent's services at risk.

What EVV Is and Why It Exists

The 21st Century Cures Act (2016) requires all states to implement EVV for Medicaid-funded personal care services and home health services. New Jersey rolled out EVV across its MLTSS program to verify that authorized home care visits actually occur as scheduled.

EVV captures five data points for every visit:

1. Who provided the service (caregiver identity)
2. Who received the service (care recipient)
3. What services were provided (ADL assistance, meal prep, etc.)
4. When the service began and ended (clock-in/clock-out timestamps)
5. Where the service was delivered (GPS location verification)

How EVV Works for Agency-Directed Care

If your parent receives PCA services through an MLTSS agency, the agency handles EVV compliance. Caregivers typically use a mobile app or telephony system to clock in and out at the start and end of each visit. The agency submits verified visit records to the MCO for reimbursement.

As a family member, you don't need to manage the technology — but you should be aware that:

• If a caregiver consistently arrives late or leaves early, EVV records will show it
• If scheduled visits are missed, the MCO will see the gap
• You can request visit records from the agency to verify care is being delivered as authorized

How EVV Works Under the Personal Preference Program (PPP)

PPP self-directed care puts more EVV responsibility on your family. Since your parent (or their Authorized Representative) acts as the employer, the hired caregiver — often a family member — must use the Fiscal Intermediary's EVV system to log every shift.

The process varies by Fiscal Intermediary:

Palco uses a mobile app where the caregiver clocks in at the start of each shift and clocks out at the end. The app verifies GPS location to confirm the caregiver is at the care recipient's home. Palco also accepts telephony-based check-in for caregivers without smartphones.

Public Partnerships (PPL) operates a similar system with mobile and phone-based options. The caregiver calls a dedicated number or uses the PPL mobile app to register visit start and end times.

Common EVV Issues for PPP Families

GPS not registering. If the caregiver's phone has location services disabled or poor GPS signal (common in basement-level apartments or rural areas), the system may reject the clock-in. Solution: enable location services before clocking in, or use the telephony backup.

Forgotten clock-outs. If the caregiver forgets to clock out, the visit appears open-ended. Most systems allow manual correction within 24-48 hours, but repeated manual edits can flag the account for review.

Live-in caregivers. If a family member lives in the home and provides care, EVV still applies — they must clock in and out for each authorized shift, even though they're already physically present. The system verifies that paid hours match authorized hours, not just physical presence.

The Authorized Representative Role

Under PPP, if your parent has diminished cognitive capacity, they need an Authorized Representative (AR) to manage employer responsibilities — approving timesheets, overseeing EVV compliance, and communicating with the Fiscal Intermediary.

Critical rule: the person being paid as the caregiver cannot also serve as the Authorized Representative. This means at least three people must be involved in a PPP arrangement when the care recipient can't self-direct:

1. The care recipient
2. The paid caregiver (can be a family member)
3. The Authorized Representative (a different family member, friend, or court-appointed guardian)

The AR reviews and approves EVV records submitted by the caregiver. If the AR and caregiver were the same person, there would be no independent verification — which is exactly what the regulation prevents.

Staying Compliant

Non-compliance with EVV can cascade quickly:

• Rejected timesheets → delayed caregiver paychecks
• Repeated discrepancies → Fiscal Intermediary audit
• Systematic non-compliance → MCO intervention, potential loss of PPP eligibility (reversion to agency-directed care)

The simplest compliance strategy: clock in at the start of every shift, clock out at the end, and have the AR review and approve timesheets weekly — not monthly.

The New Jersey Home Care Guide covers the full PPP enrollment process, EVV setup for both Fiscal Intermediaries, and a compliance checklist for family caregivers managing self-directed care under MLTSS.

See more New Jersey guides →