Guides · Minnesota
245D software: what it should do, and what it costs.
The features that separate 245D-ready software from generic scheduling tools, an honest demo checklist, and our pricing in the open.
What “245D-ready” actually means
Plenty of scheduling and home-care tools will tell you they work for 245D agencies. Most of them were built for a different license type and bolted the word “compliance” on later. Under Minn. Stat. ch. 245D, whether your license covers basic or intensive support services, a licensor reviewing your agency cares about specific structural things, and your software either supports them or it doesn’t.
- Assignment-based access: a DSP should see the clients they are assigned to and nothing else. If every staff login can browse every client record, that is a problem you will have to explain.
- A locked note lifecycle: once a case note is finalized it should lock. Corrections should happen as appended amendments, never as silent edits to the original.
- Append-only audit history: every change to a record, by whom, and when, preserved permanently. If a vendor can show you how to delete history, so can a disgruntled employee.
- EVV through HHAeXchange: visit data has to reach the state aggregator. Software that captures visits but cannot deliver them to HHAeXchange leaves you doing double entry.
- Documentation period tracking: reviews and required documentation run on cycles under the statute. The software should surface what is due and when, not leave it to a wall calendar.
If you want the full operational picture beyond software, start with our 245D compliance checklist and the policies and procedures guide.
The EVV bar keeps rising through 2026
EVV is where software choice stops being theoretical. DHS requires 50% of billed visits to be EVV-compliant from January 1, 2026, and 80% from July 1, 2026. Corrective-action notices to providers below the 80% mark begin in October 2026. Every EVV-required provider must enroll with HHAeXchange, the state’s designated aggregator, and submit all visit data through it. HHAeXchange emails a monthly compliance report around the 25th of each month, so you will know exactly where you stand, and so will DHS.
Each visit record has to carry the six Cures Act elements: the type of service, the individual receiving it, the individual providing it, the date, the location, and the time the service begins and ends. Software that captures those six elements at the point of care and moves them to HHAeXchange without manual re-keying is the difference between EVV being a background process and EVV being a part-time job. Our Minnesota EVV requirements guide covers the deadlines in detail.
What to verify in a demo
Demos are choreographed. The vendor drives, the data is clean, and everything works. Take the wheel instead. Here is what we would ask any vendor, including us:
- Ask to log in as a DSP, not an admin. Can that account see clients it is not assigned to? Admin views always look good; the staff view is where access control is real or fake.
- Try to edit a finalized case note. The right answer is an appended amendment with the original preserved. The wrong answer is an edit box.
- Change a record, then ask to see its audit trail. Who, what, when, and the prior value should all be there, and nobody should be able to remove the entry.
- Ask exactly how a visit gets to HHAeXchange, and what happens when a visit fails validation. Vague answers here become your problem in a compliance-report month.
- Ask what happens to your data if you leave. A clean export in a usable format should be a yes without hesitation.
- Ask what migration includes and what it costs. Onboarding fees that exclude your existing client records are larger than they look.
- Ask what the software does not do. A vendor who cannot name a limitation has not thought hard about your license, or is not being straight with you.
What it costs: our pricing, in the open
Most software vendors in this space make you book a call to learn a price. We would rather you have the number before you talk to anyone. ClientCentric is $599 per month on a 12-month term, plus a $750 one-time onboarding fee. Onboarding includes migrating your existing client and staff records, so you are not paying extra to get your own data in. Paid annually, the total is $7,219.20, which is 10% off the monthly rate.
For market context: consultant policy packages, the document sets agencies buy to stand up their 245D policies, commonly sell for $850–$1,280 from firms like STAR Services. That is a one-time purchase of documents, not software, but it is a useful benchmark for what 245D agencies already spend on compliance infrastructure. Whether ongoing software is worth roughly a policy package every couple of months depends on your caseload, your staff count, and how much time documentation currently costs you. We think the math works for most agencies past their first few clients; it may not for a brand-new solo operation.
The billing boundary, stated plainly
Here is the line, because too many vendors blur it: ClientCentric produces billing-ready, EVV-verified hours and units. It does not submit claims. Claim submission to MN-ITS and your MCOs stays in your agency’s billing workflow, whether that is a biller on staff or a billing service you contract with.
We hold that boundary on purpose. Claims carry payer-specific rules, denials, and resubmission judgment calls that belong with the person accountable for your revenue, and pretending software can own that end-to-end is how agencies end up surprised. What software should do is make the handoff clean: verified visit data, correct units, and an audit trail behind every number, so your biller is assembling claims instead of chasing missing documentation.
A note on the moratorium
If you are researching software because you are planning a new 245D license, know that DHS stopped accepting new 245D applications on January 1, 2026, for an expected 24 months through December 31, 2027, after citing a 283% surge in applicants and a review backlog. Pending applications were cancelled, and existing licenses cannot add new service lines. Exceptions run only through a lead agency or Tribal Nation filing via its moratorium liaison for a person-specific or regional capacity need. Existing licensed agencies are unaffected in their current operations, which is exactly why operational quality matters more right now: capacity is frozen, and referrals flow to agencies that run well. Details in ourmoratorium guide.
Common questions
Does 245D software submit claims to MN-ITS or MCOs?
Ours does not, and you should ask any vendor this directly. ClientCentric produces billing-ready, EVV-verified hours and units; actually submitting claims to MN-ITS or your managed care organizations stays in your agency's billing workflow. A vendor who is vague about this boundary is a vendor whose demo you should slow down. Know exactly which steps remain yours before you sign anything.
Can software make my agency 245D compliant?
No, and no honest vendor will promise that. Compliance is about what your staff actually do and document, and how your policies match Minn. Stat. ch. 245D. Software can enforce good habits: locked notes, append-only audit history, assignment-based access, EVV capture. But a licensor reviews your agency's practices, not your vendor's feature list. Treat any compliance guarantee as a red flag.
Do I still need EVV software if my agency is small?
If you bill services that require EVV, size does not exempt you. DHS requires 50% of billed visits to be EVV-compliant from January 1, 2026, rising to 80% from July 1, 2026, with corrective-action notices to sub-80% providers beginning October 2026. All EVV-required providers must enroll with HHAeXchange, the state aggregator, and submit all visit data through it.
What does 245D software cost?
Pricing varies widely by vendor, and many make you sit through a sales call to learn it. Ours is public: $599 per month on a 12-month term, plus a $750 one-time onboarding fee that includes data migration. Paid annually it is $7,219.20, which works out to 10% off. For context, consultant policy packages alone commonly sell for $850–$1,280 from firms like STAR Services.
Where ClientCentric fits, plainly
ClientCentric is operations software built for 245D and HCBS agencies: client records, staff assignments, scheduling, visit documentation with EVV workflows through HHAeXchange, case notes with a locked lifecycle, incidents, consents with expiry dates, and append-only audit history, plus staff and client portals. Migration is included in onboarding. It will not submit your claims and it will not make you compliant by itself; it will make the documentation side of running your agency considerably harder to get wrong. If you want to gauge where you stand first, take the free245D review readiness quiz, or book a walkthrough and drive the demo yourself with the checklist above.
Keep reading
Written and maintained by the ClientCentric team from the working product. Last reviewed . Sources: Minn. Stat. ch. 245D, DHS EVV guidance, and HHAeXchange aggregator requirements. This is operational guidance from a software vendor, not legal advice; verify requirements with your licensor or attorney.