How to Become an Independent Provider – Washington County Board of Developmental Disabilities

Requirements

An independent provider is a self-employed person who provides services to people with developmental disabilities.

Independent providers must be at least 18 years of age, have a valid Social Security number, and one of the following forms of identification:

State of Ohio identification
valid driver’s license
or other government-issued photo identification.

Independent providers must have a high school diploma or GED, be able to read, write, and understand English at a level sufficient to comply with all requirements set forth in administrative rules governing the services provided.

They must also hold a valid American Red Cross or equivalent certification in first aid and CPR, including an in-person skills assessment.

Before submitting an application for certification as an independent provider, applicants must have successfully completed all trainings as defined in 5123-2-09 and its related appendices.

The initial training course is available on DODD MyLearning.

First thing's first, start with a background check

Your application will not be able to be reviewed until all supporting documents, including a background check are submitted. The results of a background check can take up to 45 days to be completed and sent to DODD.

Begin your training

Certificates of completion will need to be submitted as part of your application packet.

Complete the Independent Provider Initial Training course available in DODD MyLearning.

Complete Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) training. **The EVV training requirement is suspended due to COVID-19 State of Emergency. Applicants should upload a page stating “This item is waived due to the COVID pandemic” when asked in the application for the EVV requirement document.**Applicants should complete the training as soon as possible after certification, using their Medicaid number to sign up. Applicants taking the training before receiving a Medicaid number should use “9999999” in the Medicaid number field when signing up for training.

Complete First Aid and CPR training. The Washington County Board of DD is able to offer First Aid and CPR training to providers. Please contact Barry Backus at bbackus@wcbdd.org for more info.

Create an OH | ID account

Create an OH | ID account and subscribe to My DODD to access Provider Services Management.

After creating your account, log in, and within the Provider Services Management app, create and submit an application to become a waiver provider.

Complete your application packet

This includes the online application and all required supporting documents:

Social Security card
birth certificate
high school diploma or GED
driver license or state ID
certificates/transcripts for completed training
proof of supplier ID
background check (automatically submitted to DODD from the Attorney General’s Office)

Pay the application fee, electronically sign and submit your application.

**All supporting documents must be submitted within 30 days of submitting your application and application fee. After 30 days, your partial application will be closed and you will have to start over.**

After your application has been submitted...

DODD will review and respond to your application within 30 days. If additional documentation is needed, they will make this request. Upon approval, you will receive notification via email with your DODD contract number, Medicaid provider number, certification effective date, and expiration date.

Before you're done...

Medicaid requires that providers have NPI (national provider identifier) number with the Ohio Department of Medicaid.

Federal law requires that an NPI be used to identify providers on any standard transaction for health care services and since waiver services are paid in part using federal Medicaid funds, you must obtain an NPI. It is separate from your DODD provider number.

To begin this process you will first need to create an account with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). To do so, click on the button below, then click CREATE OR MANAGE ACCOUNT.

After you have created your account, log in to your account here. Complete the verification process, and then click on APPLY FOR AN NPI MYSELF. Fill out your profile information. Both your Business Address and your Practice Location will be your home address.

You can skip both sections titled Endpoint for Exchange Healthcare Information as well as Other Identifiers.

Before finishing, you will need to enter the taxonomy numbers related to the services you will be providing (homemaker and personal care, homemaker and personal care transportation, etc.). Please see the guide below for the list of taxonomy numbers.

Once you have listed all of your taxonomy numbers, click next. Complete your contact information and finish the certification process.

**IMPORTANT** Once you have received your NPI number, you will need to contact the Ohio Department of Medicaid to update your record. Send an email to medicaid_provider_update@medicaid.ohio.gov and include the following information:

Your first and last name
Your Medicaid provider ID number
Your NPI number
The reason for your request (need to update records)