Home care software built for Ohio Medicaid EVV.
Ohio routes EVV through Sandata (OpenEVV Alt-EVV). First Support Homecare captures every Medicaid visit with GPS clock-in and clock-out, coded reasons and an audit trail, and its Sandata connector is built to the published specification — the certification is completed with your agency as the sponsoring provider, at no cost to you.
AI does the paperwork: faxed referrals become client records and any PDF form becomes fillable in minutes. Your staff checks and signs, so a small office keeps up without another hire.
Ohio: certification, claims validation and the 2026 changes
The Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) offers the Sandata system at no cost, or an ODM-certified alternate system. Certification is at the vendor level and has four parts: meet the technical specifications, follow the business rules, pass a technical certification with Sandata, and complete a demonstration with ODM. ODM and Sandata do not pay any of the costs of an alternate system.
Ohio now validates claims against EVV for its waivers, including Ohio Home Care and PASSPORT, and across its managed care entities. In 2026 the program changed again: on May 13, 2026 the Governor announced Medicaid fraud-prevention measures for home health and hospice, and Senate Bill 315 requires changes that affect the state vendor, every approved alternate vendor and all pending applications. ODM has temporarily paused processing of new alternate EVV vendor applications until the updated requirements are set.
| When | What changed in Ohio |
|---|---|
| August 2024 | ODM guidance on EVV claims validation for managed care entities. |
| December 2025 | EVV updates for Ohio Home Care Waiver and PASSPORT providers on claims validation. |
| May 13, 2026 | Fraud-prevention initiatives announced; Senate Bill 315 changes EVV requirements. New alternate vendor applications paused. |
One EVV account per Medicaid ID
A provider with more than one Ohio Provider Medicaid ID needs a separate EVV account for each ID subject to EVV.
Independent providers register first with Sandata
An independent provider who wants an alternate system registers in the Sandata portal, then re-registers to switch.
Vendor certification includes an ODM demo
Passing Sandata's technical tests is not enough - the vendor also demonstrates the system to ODM.
Check the certified list
Because new applications are paused, an agency choosing a system should pick one already on ODM's certified alternate vendor list.
One aggregator: Sandata's OpenEVV interface
Ohio agencies live inside two sets of rules: Ohio Department of Medicaid's, and Sandata's. The software was built to both — the state's EVV requirements in the visit record, Sandata's interface in the connector — so the agency does the work once and the aggregator gets it in its own format. Open vendor model — vendor-level certification.
Three endpoints, one order
Clients, then employees, then visits, each posted as JSON and polled to completion before the next — the appendix's own rule. The software does exactly that, and reads each record's verdict back into the visit.
Certified once per state
A vendor registers with Sandata, receives UAT credentials under a sponsoring provider in the state, passes the interface test, and is then on file for every later agency in that state.
The addendum decides the codes
Which identifier a caregiver is known by (SSN or a custom ID), which the client is, the payer and program IDs, the reason-code table and the ID formats all come from the state's addendum — and live on the account, not in code.
Everything Sandata requires is the same in every Sandata state - the element-by-element requirements, the onboarding steps and the common questions are on one page. How Sandata EVV works.
Book the demoWatch a visit go from the door to the state
Questions Ohio agencies ask
Is Ohio accepting new alternate EVV vendors?
Not at the moment. After Senate Bill 315, ODM temporarily paused processing of alternate EVV vendor applications until updated requirements are established. Vendors already certified remain on ODM's list.
Does an Ohio agency with two Medicaid IDs need two EVV accounts?
Yes - one for each Provider Medicaid ID subject to EVV.
Which Ohio programs does this cover?
Personal care, home health and the Ohio Home Care, PASSPORT and DODD waivers — every service Ohio Department of Medicaid requires EVV for. Sandata alternate-EVV testing plus a demonstration to ODM certifies the vendor; once a vendor is certified, additional providers skip testing. Ohio's interface uses its own endpoint paths (v4.3), set on the account.
Is there a free trial for Ohio agencies?
Yes. Ohio agencies that bill Medicaid and sign up by December 31, 2026 get 90 days free with no limit on clients: scheduling, the caregiver EVV app, documents, billing and the family portal. AI features are not part of the trial. Private-pay-only agencies get 15 days.
EVV in nearby states Indiana EVV · Kentucky EVV · Michigan EVV · Pennsylvania EVV · West Virginia EVV
Sources Ohio Department of Medicaid — EVV · Ohio Department of Medicaid - Electronic Visit Verification · Medicaid.gov — EVV under the 21st Century Cures Act · First Support EVV — the Cures Act EVV requirement, explained
Also on Sandata California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin · How Sandata EVV works
See a visit go from clock-in to the Sandata queue.
Twenty minutes on a screen-share: clock-in, clock-out, and the Sandata record for that visit. If it is not a fit you will know in five.