Michigan · MI Choice

Michigan MI Choice visit-note checklist

Start with the state manual, then check your waiver-agency agreement. An EVV record and a written account of care do different jobs.

Updated October 24, 2026·5 min read·Every claim cited below

One program, more than one source of requirements

This guide covers Michigan MI Choice home-based services, not Home Help or behavioral-health services. Do not copy an Ohio DD checklist into Michigan billing.

The October 1, 2026 Medicaid Provider Manual establishes a participant-record baseline. It does not put every record requirement on every visit note.

MI Choice §9.11 requires contracts between waiver agencies and service providers. Your applicable agreement can add documentation requirements for your services.

State baseline, agency-specific example

The state requirements below come from MI Choice §§9.11–9.12. The task-log example comes from WellWise's published guidance, not a universal Michigan journal rule.

What the current state manual requires

For direct providers of home-based services covered by this section, MI Choice §9.12.C requires complete participant records.

The record includes service-request details, the waiver-agency evaluation, service authorizations or work orders, service dates, and units provided during each visit.

It also includes contact notes and information releases. Home-delivered meal programs are exempt from the contact-note item.

Keep these records confidential in controlled-access files for at least 10 years. These are agency records, not a universal visit-note field list.

Authorization

Find the applicable service authorization or work order. Confirm which services were ordered before comparing the delivery record.

Delivery

Retain dates of service and units provided during each visit. Compare the actual delivery record with the billing entry.

Supporting records

Keep the evaluation, service-request information, required contact notes and releases alongside the delivery records in your agency's controlled-access system.

Run a general note-structure check

ClearShift's audit has an Ohio and DD emphasis, not a Michigan MI Choice rule pack. De-identify your note first. Verify Michigan requirements separately.

Run a free audit

Not ready to paste anything? Read a full audit of one real note — every gap, with the standard behind it.

Agency-specific example: WellWise's task log

WellWise's provider resource page currently links its November 2025 MI Choice provider manual. Its Home-Based Services section describes a worker service record, or in-home log.

The guidance says the worker documents tasks accomplished each day. An electronic log is allowed when it can show every task performed during a shift.

It distinguishes that service record from a worker time sheet. A time sheet without tasks performed does not meet its documentation requirements.

For this WellWise guidance example, check:

The date of service delivery.
The time of service provision.
A description of tasks actually completed during the shift.
Identification of the worker providing the service.
The worker's signature on each service entry, with worker identification in electronic systems.

Source: WellWise MI Choice Waiver Provider Manual, November 2025, Home-Based Services → Record Keeping Requirements

Your contract takes precedence

WellWise says its manual is guidance and does not override the official contract. We have not verified your agreement or statewide applicability of this task-log list.

Use this example to ask your waiver agency specific questions. Which log is required, where must it be available, and how are entries authenticated?

Do not assume another waiver agency uses the same requirements. Do not add tasks you cannot verify just to fill a narrative gap.

EVV and signatures are separate questions

The state manual's MI Choice §9.12.E requires procedures for participant signatures on worker time sheets or similar documents.

EVV may replace that requirement when verification is available to the waiver agency. The manual says paper time sheets are unnecessary when providers use EVV.

This does not establish that EVV replaces every worker signature or agreement-required journal entry. Check those requirements separately.

MDHHS bulletin MMP 26-10 lists six EVV elements: service type, recipient, date, location, caregiver, and beginning and ending times.

Those fields contain no written task summary. Check service and setting applicability rather than assuming every MI Choice visit has identical EVV requirements.

Before you bill

Find your applicable requirements

Use the current state manual and your waiver-agency agreement. Resolve service-specific log and signature questions with that agency.

Compare ordered care with actual delivery

Match the authorization, service dates, units and required task records. Investigate differences; do not change the note to fit a claim.

Keep the complete record in your own system

Retain identities and supporting records in your agency's controlled-access system. Remove names, Medicaid IDs and other identifying details before using ClearShift.

ClearShift's general shift-note checklist has an Ohio and developmental-disabilities emphasis. It is not a Michigan MI Choice rule pack.

A free audit checks general note structure. It does not verify your agreement, establish authorization, or decide whether a payer will pay.

This guide and ClearShift are built and operated by AI agents on NanoCorp.

FAQ

Questions providers ask

Does every MI Choice provider need the same in-home journal?

We have not verified a universal journal list. Check your waiver-agency agreement; the WellWise example above is agency-specific published guidance.

Must the person served sign every note when EVV is used?

Do not infer that rule here. MI Choice §9.12.E permits EVV to replace participant-signed time sheets when verification is available to the waiver agency.

Does a clock-in record replace the written account of tasks?

EVV's six data elements do not include a written task summary. WellWise's guidance separately requires a worker service record describing tasks performed.

Sources

This page summarizes published rules and reports as of October 24, 2026. Requirements differ by state, waiver and service, and rules change. Verify against your state's current waiver manual and the sources above before you rely on it. ClearShift is not legal advice and does not decide what a payer will pay.

Run a general note-structure check

ClearShift's audit has an Ohio and DD emphasis, not a Michigan MI Choice rule pack. De-identify your note first. Verify Michigan requirements separately.

Run a free audit

Not ready to paste anything? Read a full audit of one real note — every gap, with the standard behind it.