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Articles & Guides

Compliance guides, licensing resources, and operational articles for home health agencies — from how to start and get licensed to running an audit-ready agency at scale.

Featured

Start here — guides on licensing, compliance, and building a compliant agency from the ground up.

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Interactive tools and assessments to help you understand your compliance standing and make better business decisions.

Retention & Workforce

Build a workforce that stays. Engagement, wellness, career paths, and retention strategies for home health agencies managing staff compliance and satisfaction.

Operations & Compliance

Stay audit-ready and compliant. Licensing requirements, credentialing checklists, and operational guides for running a compliant home health agency.

Federal Reference

Home Health Survey Prep: The Top 10 G-Tag Deficiencies and How to Avoid Them

Survey-prep reference for Medicare-certified home health agencies — the top G-tag deficiencies State Survey Agencies and Accrediting Organizations cite under 42 CFR Part 484 and SOM Appendix B (patient rights, comprehensive assessment, plan of care, QAPI, infection control, skilled professional services, aide supervision, emergency preparedness, clinical records, and personnel qualifications), the operational fix for each, the mock-survey methodology that surfaces them before CMS does, the Day-1 documentation set the surveyor will pull, and the Plan of Correction structure CMS will accept.

22 min read
Federal Reference

OASIS-E for Home Health: A Working Guide to the 2026 Patient Assessment

Section-by-section walkthrough of OASIS-E and OASIS-E1 for Medicare-certified home health agencies — the data items, the SOC/ROC/Recert/Transfer/Discharge timepoints, iQIES submission timing and the correction window, the HH QRP measures derived from OASIS data, the OASIS-E2 changes finalized in the CY 2026 Home Health Final Rule for January 1, 2027, and the documentation deficiencies that most often surface at survey.

20 min read
Federal Reference

HIPAA Compliance for Home Health Agencies: A Practical Walkthrough

HIPAA applied to home health — 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164 in the home setting, the Privacy Rule's involved-persons rule for shared households, the Security Rule's three safeguard categories, BYOD and caregiver-smartphone controls, the § 164.504(e) Business Associate Agreement elements, the § 164.404 60-day breach notification clock, the December 2024 OCR Security Rule NPRM, OCR enforcement patterns, and a P&P manual structure that maps to every Standard.

22 min read
Startup Playbook

Hiring Your First 5 Home Health Caregivers: A Compliance-First Process

Compliance-first hiring process for the founder making the first home health aide hires at a newly licensed Medicare-certified agency — the 42 CFR § 484.80 training and competency evaluation rule, the federal 75-hour HHA training floor and state overlays, the State Nurse Aide Registry verification, the OIG LEIE and SAM.gov pre-employment screens, the FCRA disclosure-and-authorization workflow, the OSHA bloodborne pathogens program with TB and Hep B requirements, the personnel file checklist before first patient contact, the 14-day RN supervision rule, and the 12-hour annual in-service requirement.

20 min read
Federal Reference

Background Check Compliance for Home Health: The Layered Federal + State Stack

The full screening stack home health agencies operate against — the OIG List of Excluded Individuals (LEIE) under 42 USC § 1320a-7, SAM.gov exclusions, the State Nurse Aide Registry framework at 42 CFR § 483.156, FBI fingerprint criminal history checks and the NGI Rap Back continuous monitoring service, the canonical state deep dives for Florida (AHCA Clearinghouse Level 2), California (DOJ Live Scan and DSS HCSB), New York (Justice Center VPCR and DOH BCAU), and Pennsylvania (Act 153 three-clearance stack), the FCRA disclosure-authorization-adverse-action workflow at 15 USC § 1681b, and the EEOC Title VII individualized assessment standard.

21 min read
Federal Reference

Home Health Compare Star Ratings: How They Work and How to Improve Them

Working guide to the Care Compare Quality of Patient Care star and Patient Survey (HHCAHPS) star — the OASIS- and claims-based measures, the HHCAHPS composites and global ratings, the calculation methodology, the rolling 12-month window and quarterly refresh cycle, the CY 2026 HH PPS measure-set updates, the HHCAHPS approved-vendor and sampling rules, and the five highest-leverage operational moves agencies use to go from 3 to 4 stars.

21 min read
Federal Reference

Medicare-Certified vs Medicaid Waiver vs Private Pay: Choosing Your Home Health Agency Type

Decision guide for founders choosing what type of home care agency to start — Medicare-certified home health (skilled), Medicaid HCBS waiver providers, state Medicaid personal care, and private-pay home care compared across regulatory burden, payer mechanics, reimbursement rates, startup capital, time to first revenue, the federal 80% Medicaid Access Rule, hybrid models, and how state licensure framework constrains the model decision in PA, FL, TX, CA, OH, and NY.

22 min read
Federal Reference

Skilled Home Health vs Non-Medical Home Care: Regulatory Differences That Matter

Disambiguation guide for founders, families, and referral sources — what skilled home health (Medicare-eligible, RN-supervised, 42 CFR § 409.40-409.50, 42 CFR Part 484) can do that non-medical home care (state license, Medicaid HCBS or private pay) cannot, and vice versa. Scope of practice walked task by task, federal vs state-only licensure stacks, payer access by model, caregiver training and supervision floors, and how PA, FL, TX, CA, and NY draw the line in their state license categories.

21 min read
Federal Reference

Medicare and Medicaid Payer Enrollment for New Home Health Agencies: CMS-855A and State Medicaid

Reference walkthrough of payer enrollment after state licensure — the CMS-855A section-by-section, PECOS submission and the application fee, the 42 CFR Part 489 Subpart F surety bond, the 42 CFR § 489.28 initial reserve operating funds rule, the three Home Health & Hospice MAC jurisdictions and processing timelines, the State Agency vs. Accrediting Organization initial certification survey election, state Medicaid provider enrollment in Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, California, Ohio, and New York, Medicare Advantage and MLTC plan contracting, and the realistic revenue activation timeline from license to first paid claim.

21 min read
State Deep Dive

New York LHCSA Licensure: Article 36, Public Need Methodology, and the Application Reality

Section-by-section walkthrough of Public Health Law Article 36 and 10 NYCRR Parts 765 and 766 for new LHCSA applicants — the four-factor PHHPC test, the $2,000 application fee, the public need methodology that creates a rebuttable presumption of no need in counties with five-plus active LHCSAs, the two-month working capital floor, and the change-of-ownership exemption that opens an alternate path into saturated counties.

18 min read

Payment & Billing

Navigate Medicare/Medicaid payment models, reimbursement, and billing challenges.

Recruiting

Tactics for recruiting and onboarding home health aides and caregivers. Build a compliant pipeline from the first interview.

State Guides

Comprehensive state-by-state guides covering regulations, licensing, Medicaid programs, and workforce requirements. Browse all states by region →

Show 50 state guides

Regional Spotlights

Deep dives into caregiver shortage challenges and recruiting strategies for specific states and regions.

Show 6 regional spotlights

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