Starting a Vermont Home Health or Personal Care Agency?

The cards show the certified home health, non-Medicare skilled home health, and non-medical personal care models. In Vermont, designated Home Health Agencies and private-duty skilled businesses are different models. The non-Medicare skilled startup package is for private-duty services, which are outside DAIL HHA designation.

The state contacts for the pathways on this page are Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living. The personal care framework is applicable Vermont business, employment, and personal care requirements; the skilled framework is Vermont professional-practice requirements and the private-duty exception in the Home Health Agency designation regulations. The specific licensing, registration, designation, or program route depends on the services offered.

The private-pay non-medical business described here is not the same as a DAIL-designated Home Health Agency or an approved Choices for Care provider. This package supports business preparation and non-medical operating documents, without an application for a separate general home care agency license.

Vermont does not impose a separate agency license fee for the private-pay non-medical home care model described here, so that agency licensing fee is $0. Business registration, employment requirements, insurance, and any separately selected program certification have their own costs.

The model covers non-medical personal assistance, companionship, homemaker support, meals, transportation, and errands according to the client's needs. Keep professional nursing and therapy outside the caregiver's assigned scope.

Yes. Vermont offers a Home Care Provider certification application for participation in Choices for Care. Certification, program qualifications, service authorizations, and payment requirements are separate from forming a private-pay business.

Prepare the Vermont business registration applicable to your entity, trade-name records when needed, tax and employer registrations, and local operating or zoning requirements. Maintain the same legal business identity on agreements, insurance, and financial records.

Assign a responsible manager to oversee hiring, competency, schedules, service plans, client concerns, and coverage for absences. If the business selects a state-funded program, its additional management and supervision standards also apply.

Identify services and exclusions, rates, minimum visits, scheduling, cancellation terms, authorized contacts, complaint procedures, and how services end. The service plan should explain the assistance each client needs and what changes the caregiver must report.

Use employment, reference, background, and driving checks appropriate to the role and applicable Vermont requirements. Document training in personal assistance, privacy, infection prevention, abuse reporting, emergency response, and safe transfers before assignments.

A non-medical caregiver may not independently perform services reserved to licensed professionals. Medication and other health-related assistance must fit the worker's lawful role, any permitted professional delegation, and the documented service plan.

Private-duty services are outside Vermont Home Health Agency designation under the published designation regulations, so there is no HHA designation application fee for this private-duty model. Professional licenses, business registration, and any project-specific Certificate of Need review have separate costs. This package does not establish a designated Home Health Agency.

No. This package is for a private-duty skilled home care business. Vermont's published Home Health Agency designation regulations expressly exclude private-duty services from designation. A designated Home Health Agency is a different model with federal certification and other state approval requirements.

Vermont's designated agency framework includes defined service areas and obligations for designated services. A private-duty business must describe its services accurately and must not represent itself as a DAIL-designated agency merely because it employs nurses.

The package includes business and operational startup preparation, state-specific professional and clinical policies, personnel materials, admission documents, and forms for the selected private-duty services. It does not include a DAIL Home Health Agency designation application.

Use nurses and other clinicians authorized to practice in Vermont. Professional licensing, scope of practice, orders where required, delegation, competency, and clinical supervision still apply even though private-duty services are outside HHA designation.

No. Exclusion from DAIL designation does not decide whether a particular project is reviewable by the Green Mountain Care Board. Resolve the project's CON status before committing to a reviewable new service or expenditure. Full CON proposal work is separate unless included in a written agreement.

Document the professional assessment, authorized treatment, required orders, visit arrangements, medications, safety needs, patient goals, escalation contacts, and discharge process. Keep visit notes and communicate changes to the responsible practitioner.

Yes, where it meets the specific payer's provider, contract, authorization, and covered-service requirements. Private-pay arrangements use the client agreement. This private-duty package does not provide Medicare enrollment or billing authority.

Identify qualified clinical leadership, verify each professional's credentials, define supervision and delegation, arrange backup coverage, and review incidents and clinical records. Treat these as the operating responsibilities of the private-duty business rather than a claim of DAIL designation.

Establish written emergency contacts, staff escalation, backup coverage, weather and travel procedures, and instructions for clients when a scheduled visit cannot occur. For an immediate medical emergency, staff should activate emergency services. Keep the response appropriate to the Vermont services your agency is authorized to provide.

Provide a clear contact for concerns, record each complaint, assign follow-up, document the response, and review patterns that call for changes. Preserve client confidentiality and follow applicable abuse, neglect, and incident-reporting requirements.

This service model does not have a separate agency-license quality-program requirement. Written policies and documented quality reviews remain sound operating practices; professional standards and any selected provider program can impose additional requirements. Use client feedback, incidents, missed visits, and record reviews to identify and correct service problems.

Home Health Forms provides Vermont-specific quality improvement and written policies.

The Vermont Home Care Agency Complete Startup Package may include:

• A professionally designed company logo.
• A customized WordPress business website.
• One year of website hosting.
• One year of domain registration.
• 500 customized business cards.
• 500 customized tri-fold brochures.
• Vermont-specific policies and procedures for private-pay non-medical home care business.
• Human-resources and personnel documents.
• New-client admission documents.
• Operational and administrative forms.
• Preparation of your Vermont non-medical home care business and operational startup documents.
• Access to the Home Health Forms members' area.
• Customization of documents to the purchaser's agency.
• Ongoing guidance and applicable document updates.

Home Health Forms provides startup guidance, customized documents, and preparation of the business or approval materials listed in the package. This service model does not have a separate state agency license application. The relevant agencies and payers make any required approval decisions.

The applicant remains responsible for accurate company information, professional qualifications where applicable, staffing, insurance, employment screening, business registrations, and operational compliance. Home Health Forms provides guidance and state-specific documents to support your success.

Customized policy manuals, forms, and related digital documents are generally emailed within five business days after Home Health Forms receives all company information needed to complete the customization.

logo creation, website development, domain registration, printing, shipping, and other package components may have separate production timelines.

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