Software for a home health agency: honest 2026 buyer's guide
The honest 2026 software for home health agency buyer's guide. Side-by-side OASIS-E, PDGM, billing, and EVV across 25 vendors with real starting prices. No sponsored content.
- If you bill Medicare, you need OASIS-E + PDGM + 837I + HHVBP dashboards. Six vendors do this well at small-agency price: Alora, Igea, Devero, KanTime, Axxess, HealthWyse.
- Mid-to-large Medicare HH defaults to WellSky (Kinnser), Homecare Homebase, KanTime, MatrixCare, Netsmart myUnity.
- If you also operate non-medical home care alongside skilled HH, AveeCare runs the home care side at $6 / active client / month with EVV export support across all 50 states.
- Most vendors do not publish prices. Plan for 6-12 weeks of vendor demos and quote-gathering before signing.
- Avoid 3-year contracts on first purchase. Negotiate to 1-year max, with a clean data-export clause if you leave.
25 home health software vendors compared
Click any row to expand pricing model, contract term, and notes. Filter by vertical or search by name. Numbers are estimates from public sources, partner decks, and buyer-reported quotes (Q1 2026); always confirm in writing.
Note on AveeCare: we serve non-medical home care across all 50 states. Skilled Medicare home health agencies must contact us before signing up to confirm our current OASIS / PDGM coverage meets your needs.
| Vendor | Vertical | OASIS | PDGM | EVV | Starting | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AveeCare(us) | Home care (non-medical) | No | No | Export only | $6 / client / mo | Month-to-month | |
| Homecare Homebase (HCHB) | Home health (Medicare) | Yes | Yes | Included | $4,000+ / mo | 2–3 year typical | |
| WellSky Home Health (Kinnser) | Home health (Medicare) | Yes | Yes | Included | $2,500+ / mo | 1–3 year | |
| Axxess Home Health | Home health (Medicare) | Yes | Yes | Included | $1,500+ / mo | 1 year typical | |
| KanTime Healthcare | Home health (Medicare) | Yes | Yes | Included | $2,000+ / mo | 1–2 year | |
| Alora Home Health | Hospice + HH | Yes | Yes | Included | $995+ / mo | 1 year typical | |
| MatrixCare Home Health | Hospice + HH | Yes | Yes | Included | $2,500+ / mo | 1–3 year | |
| Netsmart myUnity Home Health | Hospice + HH | Yes | Yes | Included | $3,000+ / mo | 2–3 year | |
| Forcura | Home health (Medicare) | Limited | Limited | No | $500+ / mo | 1 year typical | |
| CitusHealth | Home health (Medicare) | No | No | No | $300+ / mo | 1 year | |
| Devero (CarePort / WellSky) | Home health (Medicare) | Yes | Yes | Included | $1,500+ / mo | 1–2 year | |
| Curantis Solutions | Hospice + HH | Yes | Yes | Included | $1,800+ / mo | 1 year | |
| PointClickCare Home Health | Hospice + HH | Yes | Yes | Included | $2,500+ / mo | 2 year | |
| Brightree Home Health | Hospice + HH | Yes | Yes | Included | $2,000+ / mo | 1–2 year | |
| AlayaCare Home Health | Home care + HH | Yes | Limited | Included | $2,500+ / mo | 1 year typical | |
| Synzi | Home health (Medicare) | No | No | No | $400+ / mo | 1 year | |
| Tellus / Netsmart EVV | Home care + HH | No | No | Included | $1,200+ / mo | 1 year | |
| HHAeXchange (vendor system) | Home care + HH | Limited | No | Included | $800+ / mo | 1 year | |
| HealthWyse | Home health (Medicare) | Yes | Yes | Included | $1,500+ / mo | 1–2 year | |
| Thornberry NDoc | Home health (Medicare) | Yes | Yes | Included | $2,000+ / mo | 1–2 year | |
| Carecenta | Home care + HH | Limited | Limited | Included | $1,000+ / mo | 1 year | |
| CareVoyant | PDN / pediatric | Yes | Yes | Included | $1,500+ / mo | 1 year | |
| Igea Home Health | Home health (Medicare) | Yes | Yes | Included | $1,200+ / mo | 1 year | |
| Suncoast / Netsmart Suncoast | Hospice + HH | Yes | Yes | Included | $2,000+ / mo | 2 year | |
| Hospice Tools | Hospice + HH | Limited | Limited | Included | $595+ / mo | 1 year |
8 must-haves for any Medicare-certified home health software
If a vendor cannot demo all 8 in a single 60-minute session, drop them.
Live scrubbing, CMS-form-update SLA, transfer + recertification supported.
Live HIPPS code on chart, LUPA-threshold warnings, comorbidity adjustment visible at episode level.
Direct submission to your MAC. ERA / 835 import. Denial reason categorized, not just shown raw.
If you operate any HCBS or PCS Medicaid alongside skilled HH, the same vendor needs to handle EVV — or play nicely with an aggregator.
Offline charting, GPS visit verification, photo + voice intake, BAA-covered.
Auto-reassign on callout, productivity dashboards, drive-time math.
OASIS quality measure trending, claims-based measure tracking, peer-cohort comparison.
Pre-built CMS-aligned reports + a way to build new ones without a service ticket.
OASIS-E + PDGM: what your software actually has to do
OASIS-E is not optional. CMS requires the assessment at five trigger points (start of care, resumption, recertification, transfer, discharge). The 2023 update added Social Determinants of Health items, and CMS has signaled additional question revisions for 2026-2027 as part of HHVBP refinement. Vendors should ship form updates within 30 days of CMS publication; ask for the SLA in writing.
PDGM groups each 30-day period into one of 432 case-mix categories using clinical grouping, functional impairment level, comorbidity adjustment, admission source, and episode timing. Your software has to: (1) compute the HIPPS code live as the chart is built, (2) flag LUPA risk before you under-visit, (3) populate the 837I claim with grouper output, and (4) reconcile the 835 remit back to the episode.
A vendor that says "our calculator runs at month-end" is selling you a problem. Episode pricing is decided when the chart starts, not when the chart closes.
EVV + billing: where home health and home care meet
If your agency runs only Medicare-certified skilled home health and never bills Medicaid PCS / HHCS, EVV is not federally required for you. The 21st Century Cures Act EVV mandate applies to Medicaid personal care services and home health care services, not to Medicare home health.
In practice, most agencies that started as skilled HH end up adding a Medicaid PCS line or a private-pay personal-care line within their first 3 years. The cost of stitching a separate EVV system onto your EHR mid-stride usually exceeds what you would have paid up front. Buyers should pick software that either includes EVV or exports cleanly to the state aggregator (Sandata, HHAeXchange, Tellus, AuthentiCare, CareBridge) for whichever state they operate in.
For 837I claims, ask every vendor: how many MACs are pre-configured, what does denial-management look like, and can you import 835s automatically? An EHR that posts ERA payments by clicking through 200 line items is selling you a part-time AR job.
Pricing patterns: what you will actually pay
| Agency size | Typical monthly | Implementation | Common pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Startup (1-5 clinicians) | $300 - $1,500 / mo | $0 - $5,000 | Per-user or flat |
| Small (6-25 clinicians) | $1,500 - $5,000 / mo | $3,000 - $12,000 | Per-user, sometimes per-episode |
| Mid (26-100 clinicians) | $5,000 - $15,000 / mo | $10,000 - $25,000 | Per-user + per-episode |
| Large (100+ clinicians) | $15,000+ / mo | $25,000+ | Custom; per-user + per-episode + add-ons |
Where AveeCare actually fits
AveeCare is built for non-medical home care across all 50 states. If you run a hybrid Medicare home health + non-medical home care operation, we are a great fit for the personal-care side at $6 per active client per month, with EVV export support included.
For pure Medicare-certified skilled home health, you will get more from a Kinnser, KanTime, or Alora today. Contact us first if you want to evaluate AveeCare for skilled HH, so we can confirm whether our current OASIS / PDGM coverage meets your specific workflow.
Frequently asked questions
7-step, 4-week shortlist process
Run this to avoid 3 months of demo-fatigue.
Home health software glossary
- OASIS-E
- CMS-required assessment instrument for Medicare home health (start of care, resumption, recertification, transfer, discharge).
- PDGM
- Patient-Driven Groupings Model. Medicare home health payment system; 30-day episode with case-mix.
- HIPPS
- Health Insurance Prospective Payment System code. The 5-character payment code computed from PDGM inputs.
- LUPA
- Low Utilization Payment Adjustment. If visits in a 30-day period fall below threshold, payment drops to per-visit.
- HHVBP
- Home Health Value-Based Purchasing. National program adjusting payment based on quality scores.
- CoP
- Conditions of Participation. The federal regulations Medicare-certified HH agencies must meet.
- 837I
- Institutional claim format. The X12 transaction file submitted to a MAC for payment.
- 835 / ERA
- Electronic Remittance Advice. The X12 transaction file MACs send back with payment + denial detail.
- BAA
- Business Associate Agreement. HIPAA-required contract between covered entity (you) and any vendor that touches PHI.
- EVV
- Electronic Visit Verification. Federally mandated under 21st Century Cures Act for Medicaid PCS and HHCS.
- Aggregator
- A state-contracted EVV vendor (Sandata, HHAeXchange, Tellus, AuthentiCare, CareBridge) that consolidates EVV data on behalf of the Medicaid agency.
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