Starting a North Carolina Home Health or Personal Care Agency?

• North Carolina Home Health Agency — a licensed Home Care Agency that completes the Certificate of Need and Medicare/Medicaid certification pathway for skilled intermittent services.
• North Carolina Personal Care Agency — a licensed Home Care Agency authorized to provide personal care and any other service categories listed on its license.

NC DHHS Division of Health Service Regulation, Acute and Home Care Licensure and Certification Section, administers Home Care Agency licensure under G.S. 131E-135 through 131E-142 and 10A NCAC 13J.

Yes. DHSR's establishment guidance states that each site providing home care services must be separately licensed. Additional requirements apply to certified Home Health Agency sites.

The applicant submits the current application, required fee, and proof of prior home care agency ownership or operation, or proof of completing training through a DHSR-approved trainer. DHSR then reviews the application and requests policies, procedures, and personnel documents.

DHSR states that all initial licensing requirements must be completed within 12 months after receipt of the application and fee. Actual processing time depends on application, document, staffing, correction, and agency-review factors.

Yes. Each site providing certified home health services generally requires a separate Certificate of Need and license. The current State Medical Facilities Plan must identify a need in the proposed county before a new CON can be issued.

After the applicable CON and state licensure steps, the agency completes CMS enrollment, implements the federal Conditions of Participation and OASIS, demonstrates operational readiness, completes an initial state or accreditation survey, corrects deficiencies, and receives CMS certification.

Qualifying accreditation may support deemed compliance with state Home Care Agency rules under G.S. 131E-138. The agency must confirm current accreditor recognition, scope, survey, and DHSR submission requirements.

DHSR's checklist addresses administrative organization, qualified leadership, infection control, annual evaluation, client rights, admissions, discharge, plans of care, service-specific policies, orders, records, personnel files, orientation, competency, background investigations, and in-home aide supervision.

The DHSR initial survey checklist identifies quarterly in-home aide supervision under 10A NCAC 13J .1110. Client needs, aide performance, payer rules, or the plan of care may require more frequent supervision.

North Carolina rules require an annual program evaluation and quarterly review of a sample of client records. Medicare-certified Home Health Agencies must also maintain a federal QAPI program.

The state license is renewed annually. Medicare certification, accreditation, Medicaid enrollment, professional credentials, and payer contracts have separate ongoing requirements and cycles.

No. NC Medicaid enrollment, managed-care credentialing and contracting, service authorization, documentation, EVV when applicable, billing, and recredentialing are separate.

EVV applies to covered Medicaid-funded personal care and home health services delivered in the home. Enrolled providers must follow current NC Medicaid EVV system, integration, visit-data, exception, and claims requirements.

• Logo creation, customized WordPress website, one year of hosting, and domain registration.
• 500 business cards and 500 tri-fold brochures.
• North Carolina-specific policies, human-resources, admission or client-service, clinical when applicable, and operational forms.
• North Carolina licensing preparation for the Personal Care package, or CON, DHSR, CMS, OASIS, and survey preparation for the Home Health package, as identified in the selected package.
• Members' area access, customization, ongoing guidance, and applicable updates.

No. CON, licensing, government, training, accreditation, background-check, insurance, local-approval, office, personnel, EVV, survey, software, mailing, and other third-party costs are separate unless expressly included in writing.

Home Health Forms provides customized documents, guidance, and preparation assistance. NC DHSR, the CON Section, CMS, NC Medicaid, managed-care organizations, survey organizations, accreditors, and other payers make their own decisions. Home Health Foms provides guidance and documents that meet regulatory requirements to ensure your success.

Customized policy manuals, forms, and related digital documents are generally emailed within five business days after all customization information is received. Website, printing, shipping, and other components may have separate timelines.

Eligibility depends on work completed, customized materials produced, digital products delivered, third-party expenses paid, printing ordered, and other services already performed.