The state's free EVV app, or your own software?
Most states pay for an EVV system and let agencies use it free. Here is what it covers, what it leaves to your office, and how your state's model decides the choice.
Every state has to verify Medicaid personal care and home health visits electronically. Most of them pay a company to run that system and let agencies use it for free. So the honest question for an agency owner is not "which EVV software", but "is the free state system enough, or do we want our own?"
What the free state system does, and what it leaves to you
The state's system is built for the state: it records the visit, checks the six Cures Act data elements, and holds the record the state matches claims against. Everything else your office does still has to happen somewhere: the schedule, caregiver onboarding and credentials, visit notes and care plans, payroll hours, private-pay invoices, and the Medicaid claim itself. With the free system that usually means a second set of tools and visits typed twice.
When the free system is enough
- A small Medicaid-only agency with a simple schedule and an office that can live with re-entering visits for payroll and billing.
- An agency in a state that requires the state system anyway (Maryland, New Mexico): there, your own software runs around EVV rather than replacing it.
When your own system pays for itself
- You also serve private-pay clients, and want one schedule, one caregiver app and one set of records for both.
- You bill several payers, or your state routes EVV by payer, so one visit has to land in different places.
- Claims are denied for EVV mismatches and you want the claim built from the same visit record the aggregator received.
How each state handles it
| Model | What it means for your software | States |
|---|---|---|
| One aggregator (38) | Most offer a free state system; you can also use your own system that sends visits to the aggregator. Arizona no longer offers a state app, so every Arizona agency uses its own. | Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming |
| Several aggregators (6) | The payer decides where a visit goes; your own system has to reach each one. | Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas |
| Direct to the state (5) | No aggregator in the middle: EVV goes to the state or on the claim itself. | New York, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington |
| Closed system (2) | Caregivers clock in in the state's system; your software runs the rest of the agency. | Maryland, New Mexico |
Each state's page shows which aggregator it uses and where our connector stands: live, built and waiting for certification, or not built yet. The full table is on EVV by state.
Questions
Is the state's EVV app really free?
Yes. Where a state contracts an aggregator such as Sandata, HHAeXchange, AuthentiCare, CareBridge, Netsmart or Therap, the state pays for it and usually offers its visit-capture tools to agencies at no cost (Arizona is an exception: since October 2025 every agency there uses its own system). What it covers is EVV: recording and verifying visits for the state.
Can we use our own EVV software instead?
In most states, yes. 38 of the 51 programs (50 states and DC) let an agency use its own system as long as it sends visits to the state's aggregator in the aggregator's format, and 6 more route by payer. Only 2 states, Maryland, New Mexico, require caregivers to clock in in the state system itself.
How long does connecting our own system take?
It depends on the state and the aggregator. The vendor's connector has to pass the aggregator's testing, often with the agency as sponsoring provider; Maine, for example, says to allow at least eight weeks. Each state's page gives its own steps.
Do we lose anything by moving off the free app?
Your visit history in the state system stays there. New visits are captured in your own system and sent to the aggregator, so the state still sees every visit.
See how your state's EVV comes out of a real visit.
Twenty minutes on a screen-share, end to end, in your state's format. No obligation.