Carol Jewel is a 52-year-old disabled woman who receives care in her Comal County, Texas home.

In October 2014, she contracted with The Home Care Team, Inc., a privately held home healthcare company in Texas, for a personalized attendant to assist her with daily tasks at home, such as bathing, laundry, and tracking medications.

Possibly at Jewel's request, The Home Care Team hired her boyfriend, Jason McBride, to provide these services (Jewel v. The Home Care Team, 2017). Over the next year and a half, McBride allegedly "abused and tortured" Jewel. He allegedly broke her nose, broke her hand, shattered her teeth, damaged her throat by strangling her, and left her bruised and battered from beatings with a hammer or ax. McBride was convicted of numerous domestic violence charges, and Jewel is now suing The Home Care Team for negligent hiring and negligent supervision (Jewel v. The Home Care Team).

In her lawsuit, Jewel claims that The Home Care Team failed to conduct a criminal background check before hiring McBride, never contacted her regarding the services she was receiving, and never conducted a supervisory visit at her home.

The Home Care Team is contesting Jewel's allegations. These allegations should be easy to prove or disprove, depending on whether The Home Care Team documented and preserved records of its actions and those of its employees.

First, if The Home Care Team conducted a reference, employment, or criminal background check, it should be able to address Jewel's claim of negligent hiring. It will likely have to explain, though, why it hired McBride when his criminal background includes theft, assault, unlawful carrying of a weapon, possession of marijuana, promotion of prostitution, and evading arrest (Comal County Criminal Case Records, 2017). McBride's employment appears to have continued even after Jewel obtained a Civil Protection Order against McBride (Jewel v. The Home Care Team, 2017).

Second, if The Home Care Team monitored and documented McBride's services, for instance by conducting home visits or interviewing the client about the services she was receiving, it should be able to easily disprove Jewel's claim of negligent supervision.

Whether Jewel's claims are true should become clear through the litigation discovery process. If it turns out that The Home Care Team lacks documented evidence of a background check, supervisory visits, or services provided, then it will have to rely heavily on witness testimony. If so, the company is looking at an expensive, potentially embarrassing experience in court.

This case illustrates what can happen when home healthcare providers fail to verify the actions of their employees. Indeed, the legal consequences can be worse. Without verification that a given service was provided, any billed service can be disputed and can serve as a basis for a False Claims Act lawsuit or even a criminal prosecution.

Fortunately, it has never been easier to verify good home healthcare services. Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) systems exist for this reason. Using the caller ID of the patient's home phone or GPS on a cellphone or tablet, EVV software records the time, date, and location of the caregiver's check-in and check-out. Thus, the system electronically verifies that the caregiver is present at the patient's home (Therap, 2017). Compared with a handwritten data log, EVV software significantly decreases the risks of fraudulent care reporting and human error in transcribing services rendered.

Some states, such as Texas (Texas Health and Human Services, 2017) and Illinois (Illinois Department of Human Services, 2017), have mandated the use of EVV software for certain state-funded home healthcare programs. Additionally, the 21st Century Cures Act requires that states start using EVV for home healthcare services funded through Medicaid by 2023, or they will lose a percentage of their Medicaid funding (Congress.gov., 2015). EVV software compliant with the 21st Century Cures Act must collect the following data: individual receiving service, individual providing service, date of service, location of service delivery, type of service performed, and the time the service begins and ends. EVV software capabilities, however, extend beyond these statutory requirements.

For example, EVV systems enable caregivers to electronically document a narrative of services rendered and upload Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant pictures of the care provided.

As the Jewel case demonstrates, such features are well worth the cost. If home healthcare providers have not already done so, they should start using them now-especially providers who are doing nothing wrong.

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