Custom software for home health and home care agencies

The daily juggling act in a home health agency

A home health agency is a dispatch operation, a clinical practice and a billing office at the same time. Schedulers fill shifts around caregiver availability, skills, languages, drive time and client preferences, then refill them when someone calls out at 6 a.m. Clinicians document visits from cars and kitchens. The office chases signed orders, authorizations and timesheets so claims can go out.

Skilled home health agencies that bill Medicare also work around assessment schedules such as OASIS, physician orders and certification periods. Non-medical home care agencies deal more with private pay clients, long-term care insurance and Medicaid waiver programs. Both usually have to meet electronic visit verification (EVV) requirements for Medicaid-funded visits, which vary by state and by the aggregator the state uses.

Where agencies tell us the time goes:

• Referral intake from hospitals, physicians and families arriving by fax, phone and email with no single queue.
• Matching the right caregiver to each client, then rebuilding the week when a caregiver quits or a client goes into the hospital.
• Missed or late visits discovered after the fact instead of when the clock-in fails.
• Authorizations that expire or run out of hours without anyone noticing until a claim is denied.
• Caregiver recruiting, onboarding paperwork, license and certification expirations, and TB or background check renewals.
• Families calling the office for updates that could be shown to them directly.

What we build: home health CRM, scheduling software and apps

• A home health CRM for referral sources and intake, tracking each referral from first contact to start of care, and showing which hospitals and physicians send the most.
• Home health scheduling software that matches caregivers by skills, availability, location and client preference, and flags open shifts the moment they appear.
• A caregiver mobile app for schedules, directions, care plans, task checklists, clock-in and clock-out, visit notes and shift swaps.
• Authorization and hours tracking with alerts before limits are reached or dates expire.
• Caregiver recruiting and credential tracking, with reminders before licenses, CPR cards and health screenings lapse.
• A family portal where approved relatives see visit history, upcoming schedules and messages from the care team.
• Billing prep that turns verified visits into clean data for your billing system or clearinghouse.
• AI phone answering for after-hours calls, caregiver call-outs and new client inquiries.

Off-the-shelf home care agencies software vs. custom

WellSky, Axxess, AlayaCare and AxisCare are widely used platforms for home health and home care agencies, covering clinical documentation, scheduling, EVV and billing in one place. For a Medicare-certified agency, a dedicated home health EHR is usually the right core system, because its clinical and claims rules are maintained by the vendor.

Custom software earns its place around that core. Agencies use it for a referral CRM that fits their marketing, a scheduling view that matches how their coordinators actually think, a caregiver app their staff will open, a recruiting pipeline, or reporting across several branches and service lines. Some agencies running private pay home care, where clinical requirements are lighter, choose a fully custom system instead. We look at which route fits before quoting.

HIPAA, EVV and EHR integration

Client records, care plans, diagnoses and visit notes are protected health information. We build home health software with HIPAA safeguards in mind: unique logins, role-based access so caregivers only see their own clients, audit logs, encryption on phones and servers, and hosting with providers that offer business associate agreements. We work with your compliance advisor on the agreements and policies your agency needs.

Where your EHR, EVV aggregator or payroll system allows it, we connect to it so visits, hours and client details move between systems without double entry. Each state and vendor handles this differently, so we confirm what is possible early in scoping.

How a home health software project works

1. Map the agencyWe follow a client from referral to discharge and a caregiver from application to paycheck, with your schedulers and clinical managers.
2. Confirm the rulesWe list the payer, state and EVV requirements that apply to your services and the systems already in place.
3. Design the screensCoordinators and caregivers click through the scheduling board and the mobile app before it is built.
4. Build in roundsYou get working pieces early, usually starting with scheduling or intake, and review each round.
5. Pilot with one branchWe roll out to a small group of caregivers, fix what they find, then move the rest of the agency over.

What it costs

Zoti custom projects start at $499/month, covering design, development, hosting and ongoing changes. Price depends on how many workflows and branches are included, whether there is a caregiver mobile app, and which systems we connect to. You get a written quote before work begins.