Electronic Visit Verification and Payroll: How to Reconcile EVV Data

Aide clocked in but did not clock out. EVV shows an open visit. Payroll cannot pull hours until the visit is closed. Resolution: supervisor closes the visit manually with documented actual end time.

EVV captured location flag because the aide's phone GPS was off or the device was not in the correct location when clocking in. Resolution: agency overrides with documented explanation. Excessive location exceptions create audit risk.

Client needed additional assistance; aide stayed longer than the authorized visit window. EVV captures actual time; authorized hours are shorter. Resolution: document the reason, submit an authorization update if required, and pay actual hours worked.

EVV typically captures only client-site time. Inter-client travel is compensable (see travel time guide) but is not in the EVV record. Payroll must add travel time separately based on travel logs or scheduling system data.

EVV captures identity data. If a different aide performed the visit than the one authorized, the EVV record flags the discrepancy. Both billing compliance and payroll must reflect the actual aide who worked.

Export EVV visit data at the end of each pay period.

Run an exception report: identify all open visits, location exceptions, and visits that exceed or fall short of scheduled hours by more than a defined threshold.

Resolve exceptions before payroll processing: supervisors close open visits, document location overrides, confirm substitute aide assignments.

Add inter-client travel time to total paid hours for each aide based on travel logs or scheduling gap data.

Compare total EVV-reconciled hours to preliminary payroll hours. Flag and investigate significant differences.

Process payroll from reconciled hours. Archive the EVV export and reconciliation documentation for audit trail.

EVV data must match claims submitted for Medicaid reimbursement. Payroll does not have to match EVV timestamps exactly, but the payroll hours should not be significantly different from EVV-captured service delivery time without a documented explanation. Auditors look for large, unexplained discrepancies between EVV visit data and payroll records as a potential billing fraud indicator.

A missed clock-out creates an open visit that will not export cleanly to the billing system. Most agencies have a policy requiring the supervisor to close the visit manually with a note explaining the override. That manual correction should also be documented in the aide's payroll record so the actual hours worked are captured correctly.

EVV timestamps can be a useful starting point, but they typically need adjustment before payroll entry -- rounding to the agency's time rounding policy, adding inter-client travel time, and removing device-on/off timestamps that do not reflect actual service delivery time. Treat EVV data as source material that requires review, not a direct feed to payroll.

States that fail to implement EVV for Medicaid-funded personal care and home health services face Federal Medical Assistance Percentage reductions. Agencies that submit Medicaid claims without corresponding EVV data risk claim denials, recoupments, and in cases of pattern non-compliance, exclusion from the Medicaid program.