Case Story: Illinois Department of Human Services

Picture this: you manage home care for your state’s human services department. One thing that really sets your state’s policies apart is its consumer-directed care model, meaning, people receiving home care services can choose their designated caregiver, giving them the freedom to be more involved in their plan of care.  

Despite this significant benefit, the home care payroll system requires manual data entry, resulting in many billing errors. In addition, visits are reported by the caregivers themselves, and with a lack of real-time auditing, there is potential for an increase in the occurrence of fraud or errors. Both factors combined creates duplicate payments and overpayments that leave your already-thin budget even thinner.  

These were the issues and challenges that the Illinois Department of Human Services was facing, preventing them from providing an optimal program for their state. They turned to Sandata for help, setting up an Electronic Visit Verification™ (EVV) portal to automatically track, verify and reconcile visits– eliminating the need for manual data entry. In addition, Sandata was able to configure a reporting tool designed specifically for the needs of IL DHS, enabling them to easily spot and investigate potential fraud, waste, and abuse.  

As a result of these initiatives, in just three years, IL DHS was able to identify 4,000 hours of overpayments and save more than $3 million. In addition, they cut down payroll processing from four payrolls per month to two, and 80% of visits required no adjustments. Saving money and time, while improving care– the ultimate achievement.  

Sandata: Get More Right from the Start. 

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