Home care software built for Rhode Island Medicaid EVV.
Rhode Island 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.
What Rhode Island asks for that other Sandata states do not
Rhode Island's Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) contracts with Sandata for the state EVV system, and pays for it when an agency uses it. An agency that chooses its own system instead pays for that system itself, and the system has to meet every element of the RI Alternate EVV Specification so Sandata's aggregator can take its visits.
Two rules stand out. First, client verification: EOHHS has turned on the step where the client confirms the visit, so the record carries whether a signature or a voice recording was captured, and a visit without one raises an exception. Second, distance: the system captures GPS for both the client and the visit, and when the two points are more than 500 feet apart, the visit is not verified until the agency acknowledges the gap - and the agency must be able to back that up in writing if EOHHS asks.
| When | What changed in Rhode Island |
|---|---|
| January 1, 2021 | EVV required for personal care and homemaker services. |
| January 1, 2023 | EVV required for home health care services. |
| February 2024 | RI Alternate EVV Specification version 4.1 published - the interface an agency's own system must meet. |
Live-in caregivers are out of scope
CMS has ruled that services by a worker who lives with the client are not "in-home visits", so the Cures Act EVV requirement does not apply to them.
Only the in-home part of a shift
A shift that starts at home and ends in the community (or the reverse) needs EVV only for the portion that happens in the home.
Web timesheets do not count
CMS confirmed that web-based electronic timesheets, even with dual verification, do not meet the Cures Act requirement for an EVV system.
At least daily
An alternate system sends its visit data to the Sandata aggregator no less than once a day; more often is allowed.
Aggregator training before production
After integration testing, the agency completes Sandata's self-paced aggregator training, then emails the completion certificate to Sandata's Alt EVV team to get production credentials - which are separate from the test credentials.
Devices for clients without a phone
EOHHS issues Fixed Visit Verification devices through a request form, so a visit can still be verified in a home without a usable phone.
One aggregator: Sandata's OpenEVV interface
Rhode Island agencies live inside two sets of rules: Rhode Island EOHHS'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 model.
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 Rhode Island agencies ask
Does Rhode Island require a GPS match to the client's address?
The system compares the visit's GPS to the client's. If they are more than 500 feet apart, the visit is not verified until the agency acknowledges the difference, and the agency must be able to document why in writing if EOHHS asks.
Does a live-in caregiver need EVV in Rhode Island?
No. CMS treats services from a worker who lives with the client as outside the Cures Act's "in-home visit" requirement.
Who pays for EVV in Rhode Island?
The state pays for Sandata's system when an agency uses it. An agency that picks an alternate system pays for that system, its implementation and its ongoing fees.
Which Rhode Island programs does this cover?
Personal care, home health and waiver services — every service Rhode Island EOHHS requires EVV for. Certify with Sandata against the RI Alt-EVV Specifications v4.1 and the RI addendum; latitude/longitude on every client address; transmit at least daily; client verification elements (signature or verbal) are required.
Is there a free trial for Rhode Island agencies?
Yes. Rhode Island 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 Connecticut EVV · Massachusetts EVV
Sources RI EOHHS — Electronic Visit Verification · RI EOHHS - EVV FAQ / Information Guide · RI EOHHS - Alternate EVV Specifications v4.1 · RI EOHHS - Third-Party/Alternate EVV Provider Checklist · 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, Ohio, 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.