Introduction

Home care agencies do not fail because they lack software. They fail because the software does not match how the agency actually runs.

Some teams need Medicaid + EVV compliance and payer connectivity. Others need private duty scheduling and payroll. Others already have a clinical system and just want a clean operations hub for intake, staffing, portals, and reporting.

This guide helps you pick the right home care software for your agency, and shows an alternative path if you want to keep your clinical system but build your operations layer exactly the way you work.

TL;DR quick picks by scenario

• Medicaid heavy + payer workflows: Consider platforms designed around provider and payer connectivity like HHAeXchange.

• Private duty and personal care operations: Look at solutions positioned for private duty scheduling, EVV, and back office workflows like WellSky Personal Care (formerly ClearCare).

• All-in-one home health and home care suite: Options like Alora position around all-in-one scheduling, documentation, billing, HR, and EVV.

• Hospice and large home health workflows: Homecare Homebase (HCHB) is commonly positioned for home health and hospice operations.

• You already have a clinical system but need the missing workflows around it: Build the operations hub with Tadabase (intake, staffing, portals, audits, custom reporting, internal tools) and integrate with your EHR/EVV/billing tools.

What “home care software” usually includes

Most home care platforms bundle some mix of:

• Scheduling and dispatch (caregiver matching, shift changes, alerts)

• EVV (visit verification, location, compliance reporting)

• Documentation (visit notes, care plans, forms)

• Billing + payroll (claims, invoices, timesheets, pay rules)

• Compliance and reporting (state and payer requirements, audits)

• Caregiver and family experiences (mobile app, portals, messaging)

The best choice depends on which of these is your true bottleneck today.

The 5 buying scenarios that actually matter

1) Medicaid-focused agencies (EVV + payer workflows are the product)

If your revenue depends on Medicaid programs, MCOs, authorizations, and strict EVV processes, your “software” is as much a compliance engine as it is an operations tool. Many agencies in this category start their shortlist with tools positioned around provider and payer connectivity. For example, HHAeXchange explicitly positions around connecting providers with payers and Medicaid programs.

What to look for

• EVV rules that match your state and payer requirements

• Strong claims and authorization workflows

• Reporting that aligns to payer audits

• Proven payer connectivity for your region

2) Private duty and personal care agencies (scheduling + staffing efficiency wins)

If you do mostly private pay, your margin is often made or lost in scheduling, caregiver utilization, and minimizing last-minute chaos. Tools in this category typically emphasize scheduling, caregiver communication, client management, and payroll rules. WellSky Personal Care is positioned specifically for home care and is known as the product formerly called ClearCare.

What to look for

• Fast scheduling with coverage visibility

• Caregiver mobile experience (availability, shift swaps, messaging)

• Payroll rules that match your pay policies

• Client invoicing that is not painful

3) Skilled home health and multi-service agencies (clinical documentation + billing complexity)

If you provide skilled services, your stack tends to tilt toward clinical documentation, QA, and billing requirements. Vendors like Alora position their offering as an all-in-one home health software including scheduling, clinical documentation, billing, HR, and EVV.

What to look for

• Documentation flows that do not slow clinicians down

• Offline mobile support if your staff documents in the field (if relevant)

• Billing coverage that matches your payer mix

• QA workflows that support reviews and audits

4) Hospice and larger home health organizations (enterprise workflows, controls, and scale)

If you are larger, multi-branch, or operate hospice, you typically need stronger controls, more sophisticated reporting, and more structured workflows. Homecare Homebase is commonly positioned as software for home health and hospice.

What to look for

• Multi-branch structure with clean permissions

• Reporting that supports leadership visibility

• Workflow standardization across locations

• Integration maturity

5) “We already have systems, but the gaps are killing us” (the build option)

This is more common than people admit.

You might already have:

• An EHR you cannot replace

• EVV software mandated by payer or state

• Payroll handled elsewhere

• Billing handled elsewhere

But your agency still runs on spreadsheets and duct-taped processes for:

• Intake and referral tracking

• Caregiver onboarding and credential tracking

• Internal QA checklists

• Family updates and portals

• Incident logs and follow-ups

• Custom reporting across tools

• Role-based internal operations apps

This is where building an operations layer on Tadabase makes sense: you keep your core clinical and compliance systems, and build the workflows around them so your team stops living in spreadsheets.

A simple scoring framework (use this before you demo anything)

Score each vendor (or approach) from 1 to 5 on:

1. Workflow fit: Does it match how your agency operates today?

2. Time-to-value: Can you implement in weeks, not quarters?

3. Data ownership and reporting: Can you actually get the views you need without begging support?

4. Integration reality: Does it connect to your existing stack in a practical way?

5. Total cost curve: What happens to cost as you add clients, caregivers, branches, or features?

Then add one deal-breaker column: “If this fails, we cannot use it.”
Examples: “Must support our payer EVV rules” or “Must handle our payroll rules” or “Must support multi-branch permissions.”

The short list: what these platforms are best at (high level)

HHAeXchange

Best when your world is payer workflows, Medicaid programs, and EVV compliance. It is positioned around connecting providers with payers and Medicaid programs.

WellSky Personal Care (formerly ClearCare)

Best for private duty and personal care agencies that want strong scheduling and operations. WellSky’s product is known for being formerly ClearCare.

Alora

Best when you want an all-in-one approach that includes scheduling, documentation, billing, HR, and EVV in one system.

Homecare Homebase (HCHB)

Best for home health and hospice organizations that need a more robust operational platform aligned to those service lines.

AlayaCare

Often evaluated when agencies want an end-to-end home care platform. AlayaCare positions as a platform to manage operations across the care lifecycle.

Tadabase (build option)

Best when your agency needs custom workflows, portals, internal tools, and reporting that your off-the-shelf system will never match. You can build:

• Intake and referral pipeline (with SLAs, assignments, alerts)

• Caregiver credential tracking and expirations

• Family or client portals with role-based access

• QA workflows, incident logs, audits, and follow-ups

• Ops dashboards and unified reporting across systems

• Lightweight internal apps for each team (one job per page)

And you can connect it to the systems you keep.

How to choose in 30 minutes (a practical checklist)

Step 1: Write down your agency type in one sentence

Examples:

• “We are Medicaid-heavy personal care with strict EVV and authorizations.”

• “We are private duty and scheduling efficiency is the main margin lever.”

• “We are skilled home health and documentation plus billing drives everything.”

• “We have an EHR and EVV already. Our pain is intake, onboarding, and reporting.”

Step 2: Pick your “must win” outcome

Choose one:

• Reduce scheduling chaos

• Improve EVV compliance and reduce exceptions

• Speed up billing cycle time

• Reduce caregiver churn through better experience

• Get leadership reporting that is actually accurate

• Remove spreadsheets from intake and onboarding

Step 3: Demo for workflows, not features

In every demo, force these exact walkthroughs:

• New client intake to first scheduled visit

• Last-minute call-out to coverage found

• EVV exception handling and documentation

• Payroll approvals and pay rules

• Billing workflow for a real payer scenario

• Reporting: “Show me this month’s missed visits by reason, by branch”

If they cannot do the workflows cleanly, the feature list does not matter.

When Tadabase is the right answer (even if you buy a home care platform)

Tadabase is a strong fit when:

• You are tired of forcing your agency into someone else’s workflow

• You need portals with clean permissions (staff, clients, families, partners)

• You need internal tools that match your team structure (intake team, staffing team, QA team, billing team)

• You need reporting across multiple systems and do not want to live in exports

A common pattern is:

• Keep your EHR/EVV/billing system for regulated workflows

• Build your operations layer in Tadabase for everything else

• Connect systems so your team works from one place

This avoids risky rip-and-replace projects while still removing the spreadsheet chaos.

Frequently asked questions

What is home care software?

Home care software is a platform that helps agencies manage operations such as scheduling, documentation, EVV, billing, payroll, and compliance reporting.

What is EVV in home care?

EVV (Electronic Visit Verification) is a method of confirming that a caregiver visit occurred, typically capturing time and location data to meet state or payer requirements.

What is the best home care software?

There is no single best platform. The best choice depends on whether you are Medicaid-heavy, private duty, skilled home health, hospice, or using a hybrid stack. Start with your operational bottleneck and required compliance workflows.

Can I use Tadabase for a home care agency?

Yes, especially if you want to build custom intake workflows, caregiver credential tracking, portals, internal tools, and reporting that your off-the-shelf system cannot support. Many agencies use Tadabase as an operations layer alongside an EHR or EVV platform.

Conclusion

If you want an off-the-shelf platform, pick based on your operational reality:

• Medicaid and payer workflows: prioritize platforms designed around that environment

• Private duty operations: prioritize scheduling and caregiver workflow depth

• Skilled home health and billing complexity: prioritize documentation and billing workflows

• Hospice and large org needs: prioritize platforms aligned to those workflows

If you already have core systems and your problem is the messy workflows around them, build the missing operations layer with Tadabase and integrate the rest.