What are EVV reason codes?

EVV reason codes are standardized codes that explain why an electronic visit verification visit was entered manually, edited after capture, or missed. In Minnesota, DHS provides the list and HHAeXchange publishes it in Appendix B of its Minnesota API specification: visit edit reason codes 200 to 222, edit action codes 101 to 126, missed visit reason codes 600 to 609, and missed visit action codes 501 to 506. Every third-party EVV system must collect the code at the time of the edit and send it to the aggregator with the visit.

Does an EVV visit with a reason code count as compliant in Minnesota?

No. A reason code documents the exception; it does not cure it. Minnesota DHS counts manually entered, manually edited, and missed visits as noncompliant, and HHAeXchange calculates the rate as EVV compliant visits divided by confirmed visits. The coded visit is still in the denominator. The reason code matters for a different purpose: it shows an auditor and DHS that the agency has a controlled exception process rather than free editing, and it feeds the root-cause counts an agency uses to fix the pattern.

Who should be allowed to edit an EVV visit?

A supervisor or a designated office role, not the caregiver and not the scheduler who created the shift. The HHAeXchange business requirements for Minnesota require the third-party system to gather a reason code for every manual entry or edit and to send edits at the time of entry, and the provider attests that data is not manipulated after generation. A workable policy is that caregivers request, a supervisor approves with a reason code and action code, and billing never edits a visit to match a claim or an authorization.

How do I document a legitimate EVV exception?

Record the visit with the matching reason code (for example 216 fixed device malfunctioned, 217 attendant unable to use mobile device, 218 unable to connect to the internet or EVV system down, or 608 unplanned hospitalization for a missed visit), an action code, a note of up to 256 characters stating what happened, the name of the approver, and the supporting document such as a signed timesheet, a device incident log, or the hospital admission date. For PCA and CFSS, the visit record still needs the time and activity documentation the program requires.

How do EVV edits affect the 80 percent threshold?

Every edited or manually entered visit is noncompliant on the HHAeXchange monthly report, and every confirmed visit counts in the denominator. At the 80 percent threshold in effect for visits billed after July 1, 2026, an agency can afford one noncompliant visit in five. An agency that edits 30 percent of its visits to match schedules or authorizations will fail even if every caregiver clocked in. The fix is to change the schedule or the authorization, not the verified visit, and to submit everything so the report is accurate.

What does an EVV auditor ask for?

The visit record with its original clock-in and clock-out, the edited values, the reason code, action code, and note, who made and who approved the edit, the date and time of the edit, and the document that supports it. Auditors also ask for the written edit policy, the list of users with edit rights, the reason-code counts by worker and by month, the weekly review notes, and evidence that the edited visit was sent to HHAeXchange. Records must be kept five years for MHCP billing and seven years under the HHAeXchange business requirements.

EVV reason codes: visit edits and manual entries without losing compliance

Short answer

EVV reason codes are the codes Minnesota DHS requires on every electronic visit verification (EVV) visit that is entered manually, edited after capture, or missed. The Minnesota HHAeXchange specification lists visit edit reason codes 200 to 222, edit action codes 101 to 126, missed visit reason codes 600 to 609, and missed visit action codes 501 to 506. A coded edit is still noncompliant and still lowers the rate DHS measures against the 50 percent and 80 percent thresholds, but an edit without a code, an approval, and a note is an audit finding as well.

At a glance

Who sets the codes: Minnesota DHS provides the list; HHAeXchange publishes it in the Minnesota API specification, Appendix B
Edit reason codes: 200 to 222 (208 failed to call in, 209 failed to call out, 218 no internet or system down, 219 data entry error, 221 timesheet received)
Edit action codes: 101 to 126 (109 timesheet received and signed by supervisor, 123 supervisor approved change, 122 unverified visit, cannot be billed)
Missed visit codes: Reason 600 to 609; action 501 to 506, all of which state the service cannot be billed
Compliance effect: Coded edits and manual entries remain noncompliant; rate = compliant visits ÷ confirmed visits
Timing: Edits sent to the aggregator at the time of entry; visits cannot be modified inside HHAeXchange
Thresholds: 50% of visits billed after January 1, 2026; 80% after July 1, 2026

Key takeaways

A compliant visit is captured electronically at clock-in and clock-out; HHAeXchange treats a visit as manually edited, and noncompliant, when the visit start or end time does not match the EVV call-in or call-out.
Minnesota's edit reason codes run from 200 to 222 (for example 208 failed to call in, 209 failed to call out, 218 unable to connect to internet or EVV system down) and action codes from 101 to 126 (for example 123 supervisor approved change).
Missed visits carry reason codes 600 to 609 (for example 608 unplanned hospitalization) and action codes 501 to 506, every one of which states the service cannot be billed.
Third-party systems must send new and edited data to HHAeXchange at the time of entry, and a visit cannot be changed inside HHAeXchange after it arrives.
Edited, manually entered, and missed visits stay in the denominator of the compliance rate; the rate is compliant visits divided by confirmed visits, and withholding bad visits does not raise it.
Every edit should show who requested it, who approved it, the reason code, the action code, a note, and the supporting document, and the record must be kept for at least five years for MHCP and seven years under the HHAeXchange business requirements.

EVV reason codes are how a Minnesota agency edits or manually enters an electronic visit verification (EVV) visit without turning a documentation gap into an audit finding. Every visit that is created after the fact, changed after capture, or missed must carry a reason code and an action code from the list the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) provides, which HHAeXchange publishes in its Minnesota API specification. The coded visit is still noncompliant, but it is explained and traceable.

That distinction is the whole discipline. Since July 1, 2026 at least 80 percent of billed visits must be EVV compliant, so an agency needs fewer edits and a clean record for the edits that remain. The Minnesota EVV requirements guide covers the thresholds; this guide covers the codes and the process, as of September 2026.

What a compliant visit is

Under Section 12006 of the 21st Century Cures Act, an EVV system verifies six things: the type of service, the person receiving it, the date, the location, the person providing it, and the start and stop times. A compliant Minnesota visit captures all six electronically at the time of service, through the caregiver's mobile app with GPS, telephony from the client's phone, or a fixed device in the home, and reaches the HHAeXchange aggregator unchanged.

HHAeXchange's provider knowledge base defines the failure precisely: a visit is considered manually edited when the visit start time and the EVV call-in, or the visit end time and the EVV call-out, do not match, and a manually edited visit is noncompliant. The visit record sent to the aggregator carries an edited flag, and once a visit arrives at HHAeXchange it cannot be modified there, so the edit and its codes must be made in the capturing system.

What makes a visit noncompliant

Situation	Why it fails	Typical code
Manual entry from a timesheet or phone call	No electronic capture at the time of service	221 timesheet received, 219 data entry error
Missing clock-in	Start time was keyed in, so it does not match a call-in	208 attendant failed to call in
Missing clock-out	End time was keyed in, so it does not match a call-out	209 attendant failed to call out
GPS or address mismatch	Location element does not link to the member's address	207 address did not link to the member (GPS), 204 services outside the home
Wrong member or wrong service selected	Member or service element corrected after capture	212 identification or task does not match the schedule or plan of care
Device or connectivity failure	Capture was not possible	216 fixed device malfunctioned, 217 unable to use mobile device, 218 no internet or system down
Visit did not happen	No service to verify	Missed visit codes 600 to 609

A visit that ran longer than the units left on the authorization is not noncompliant; it is a billing question. Editing the verified times down to fit the authorization is what creates a noncompliant visit, and it is the pattern DHS pre-payment review is built to find.

The Minnesota reason codes and action codes

DHS provides the list; the HHAeXchange business requirements state that "the third-party system must gather the reason code for the manual entry and/or edit," and Appendix B of the Minnesota API specification publishes the codes. The full lists are on the specification page; the codes an agency uses most are:

Code	Visit edit reason (200 series)
200 to 203, 205	Telephony problems: number did not link to the member, no phone, phone in use, line not working
204	Member received services outside of the home
206	Member requested a change or cancellation, or services suspended
207	Address did not link to the member (GPS)
208, 209, 210	Attendant failed to call in, call out, or both
211	Attendant called in or out early or late
212	Attendant ID does not match the scheduled shift, or task does not match the plan of care
213, 215, 216	Fixed location device: invalid code, device on order, device malfunctioned
214, 220	Attendant failed to report; agency unable to provide replacement coverage
217, 218	Attendant unable to use mobile device; unable to connect to internet or EVV system down
219, 221, 222	Data entry error; timesheet received; other

Each edit also carries an action code from the 100 series recording what the agency did, for example 109 timesheet received and signed by supervisor, 111 change in schedule, 122 unverified visit that cannot be billed, 123 supervisor approved change, and 124 confirmed with the member or representative.

Missed visits use their own pair: reason codes 600 to 609 (600 no replacement coverage, 601 attendant failed to report, 602 member requested a change, 603 and 604 member refused service, 608 unplanned hospitalization, 609 other) and action codes 501 to 506. Every missed visit action code states that the service cannot be billed, which is the point: a missed visit is reported to the aggregator and never becomes a claim.

Use "other" (222, 126, 609) rarely; it gives the weekly review nothing to act on.

Who may edit, and the approval trail

The HHAeXchange business requirements for Minnesota require new and edited data to reach the aggregator "at the time of entry into the third party EVV system," require a reason code on every manual entry or edit, and have the provider attest that data is not manipulated once generated. The HHAeXchange Minnesota guide explains the integration. Inside the agency, those rules translate into a short policy:

Caregivers request, they do not edit. A caregiver who forgot to clock out reports it the same day through the app or to the supervisor.
A supervisor or designated office role approves each manual entry or edit, selecting the reason code and action code and writing the note (the API allows up to 256 characters). The scheduler who created the shift should not be the approver.
Billing never edits a visit. If the verified visit and the claim disagree, the claim follows the visit. The PCA and CFSS timesheet and visit documentation guide covers what the underlying time record must show.
The edit is sent immediately, the original captured values are preserved, and edit rights are a named list.

Audit tip: an auditor reads the edit history before the visit. A visit edited by the same user who ran the claim, on the day the claim was built, with reason code 222 and no note, is the profile of a manipulated record even when the service was real. The same edit made by a supervisor the day after the visit, with code 209, action code 123, and a note that the caregiver called at 4:15 p.m. to report the missed clock-out, is an exception with a record.

Documenting a legitimate exception

Some exceptions are unavoidable, and DHS expects them to be submitted, not hidden. Each needs the codes, a note, the approver, and a supporting document.

Exception	Reason code	What to attach
Phone died, broke, or was lost mid-shift	217	Caregiver's same-day report; device incident log; signed timesheet for the visit (action 109)
No signal and the app did not capture offline	218	Location and time; confirmation that offline capture is enabled; plan to test the address
Client hospitalized, visit did not occur	Missed 608	Admission date; action 501 confirmation with the member or representative
Client refused the visit	Missed 603	Note of the refusal and who was told (action 124)
Wrong client selected in the app	212	Schedule showing the correct client; action 123

For PCA and CFSS, the visit still has to meet the program's own time and activity documentation rules, so the signed timesheet that supports a 221 edit is the same document the program requires. Link it to the visit.

How edits count toward the 50 and 80 percent rates

HHAeXchange calculates the monthly rate as total EVV compliant visits divided by total confirmed visits, across every NPI and UMPI tied to the agency, and emails it to the portal admin users around the 25th for the previous month. DHS receives the same report and applies the thresholds: 50 percent for visits billed after January 1, 2026 and 80 percent for visits billed after July 1, 2026.

Three consequences follow. A coded edit is still in the denominator and not in the numerator; the code protects the agency in an audit, not on the report. Missed visits with a "cannot be billed" action code are reported but never billed. And withholding a bad visit does not help: DHS requires all visits to be submitted, and a billed visit with no EVV record is a missed visit on the report. The EVV compliance checklist walks through coding edits by root cause and fixing the causes.

The weekly review

Run it while the month is still open, with a supervisor, the scheduler, and billing:

Manual entries and edits from the last seven days, by worker and by reason code.
Missed clock-outs still open, and import rejections outstanding at HHAeXchange.
Any edit made by a user outside the approved list, or on the same day as a claim.
Month-to-date rate against 80 percent, by identifier.

Keep the notes; they are the evidence of a working exception process.

What an auditor asks for

A DHS reviewer, an MCO auditor, or the pre-payment review vendor asks for:

The visit record with original and edited values, reason code, action code, note, editor, approver, and timestamps.
The written edit policy and the list of users with edit rights on the date of the edit.
The supporting document for each sampled edit, and the weekly review notes.
Proof the edited visit reached HHAeXchange (transaction ID or aggregator status).
The resulting claim, so units can be compared with the verified times; the MHCP claim denials guide explains what happens when they disagree.

Retention runs on two clocks: five years after the initial billing date for MHCP records under Minn. R. 9505.2190, and seven years from receipt of payment under the HHAeXchange business requirements. Keep the longer.

How Trustora helps

Trustora's caregiver app on iOS and Android captures GPS clock-in and clock-out and the client's signature at the time of service, works offline and syncs when a signal returns, and shows the worker only the clients scheduled that day, which removes most 207, 212, and 218 edits before they happen. Manual entries and edits require a Minnesota reason code and action code from the fixed list, a note, and a supervisor's approval, and the original captured values are preserved beside the edited ones in an append-only, SHA-256-chained audit log.

Every visit, coded or not, is sent to the HHAeXchange aggregator at the time of entry, and the compliance engine shows edits by worker, client, and reason code for the month to date. The pre-claim gate stops a visit from becoming an 837P line when its times and units disagree, and the one-click DHS audit binder produces the edit history and supporting documents for any sample. See the features page for the EVV and compliance workflow.

Frequently asked questions

What are EVV reason codes?: EVV reason codes are standardized codes that explain why an electronic visit verification visit was entered manually, edited after capture, or missed. In Minnesota, DHS provides the list and HHAeXchange publishes it in Appendix B of its Minnesota API specification: visit edit reason codes 200 to 222, edit action codes 101 to 126, missed visit reason codes 600 to 609, and missed visit action codes 501 to 506. Every third-party EVV system must collect the code at the time of the edit and send it to the aggregator with the visit.
Does an EVV visit with a reason code count as compliant in Minnesota?: No. A reason code documents the exception; it does not cure it. Minnesota DHS counts manually entered, manually edited, and missed visits as noncompliant, and HHAeXchange calculates the rate as EVV compliant visits divided by confirmed visits. The coded visit is still in the denominator. The reason code matters for a different purpose: it shows an auditor and DHS that the agency has a controlled exception process rather than free editing, and it feeds the root-cause counts an agency uses to fix the pattern.
Who should be allowed to edit an EVV visit?: A supervisor or a designated office role, not the caregiver and not the scheduler who created the shift. The HHAeXchange business requirements for Minnesota require the third-party system to gather a reason code for every manual entry or edit and to send edits at the time of entry, and the provider attests that data is not manipulated after generation. A workable policy is that caregivers request, a supervisor approves with a reason code and action code, and billing never edits a visit to match a claim or an authorization.
How do I document a legitimate EVV exception?: Record the visit with the matching reason code (for example 216 fixed device malfunctioned, 217 attendant unable to use mobile device, 218 unable to connect to the internet or EVV system down, or 608 unplanned hospitalization for a missed visit), an action code, a note of up to 256 characters stating what happened, the name of the approver, and the supporting document such as a signed timesheet, a device incident log, or the hospital admission date. For PCA and CFSS, the visit record still needs the time and activity documentation the program requires.
How do EVV edits affect the 80 percent threshold?: Every edited or manually entered visit is noncompliant on the HHAeXchange monthly report, and every confirmed visit counts in the denominator. At the 80 percent threshold in effect for visits billed after July 1, 2026, an agency can afford one noncompliant visit in five. An agency that edits 30 percent of its visits to match schedules or authorizations will fail even if every caregiver clocked in. The fix is to change the schedule or the authorization, not the verified visit, and to submit everything so the report is accurate.
What does an EVV auditor ask for?: The visit record with its original clock-in and clock-out, the edited values, the reason code, action code, and note, who made and who approved the edit, the date and time of the edit, and the document that supports it. Auditors also ask for the written edit policy, the list of users with edit rights, the reason-code counts by worker and by month, the weekly review notes, and evidence that the edited visit was sent to HHAeXchange. Records must be kept five years for MHCP billing and seven years under the HHAeXchange business requirements.

Sources and further reading

Cite this article

Trustora Editorial Team. (2026, September 11). EVV reason codes: visit edits and manual entries without losing compliance. Trustora. https://trustora.com/blog/evv-visit-corrections-and-reason-codes-minnesota

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This article is general information for Minnesota agencies, not legal, clinical, or billing advice. Minnesota DHS policy changes often. Confirm current requirements in the MHCP Provider Manual, the Minnesota Statutes, and DHS provider notices before acting on anything here.