Our Review Methodology
At CareTech Stack, we believe that choosing the right software is a life-or-death decision for a home care agency. A bad software choice doesn't just cost money; it results in denied Medicaid claims, failed state audits, and massive caregiver turnover.
Because the stakes are so high, our editorial independence is our most valuable asset. Here is exactly how we evaluate and rank Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) platforms.
1. We Are Operational Experts First
Our editorial team does not consist of generic freelance writers. We are compliance experts, former agency operators, and healthcare IT consultants who have actually sat through terrifying state Medicaid audits.
2. The "True North" Evaluation Criteria
We do not rank software based on how pretty the dashboard is. We rank it based on its ability to solve the four major operational nightmares of agency owners:
- The Offline EVV Nightmare: Can the software capture a GPS timestamp in a rural basement with zero cellular service?
- The Billing Engine: Does it automatically scrub 837P claims for errors *before* sending them to the clearinghouse?
- Compliance Hard-Stops: Will the software physically prevent a dispatcher from assigning a shift to a caregiver with an expired TB test?
- Pricing Models: We heavily penalize software that charges "Per-User" fees, and we reward software that charges based on active patient census.
3. Real World Data Integration
We don't just test the software in a sandbox. We actively monitor private agency owner groups, Subreddits, and industry forums. If a software is technically beautiful but 50 agency owners are complaining that the mobile app drains their caregivers' phone batteries in 3 hours, we factor that raw, zero-volume data directly into our reviews.
If you have questions about our methodology or want to suggest a software for us to review, please contact our editorial team.