The short answer Indiana licenses skilled home health agencies and non-medical Personal Services Agencies through the Indiana Department of Health.
What Indiana requires
Indiana
Licensing agency. The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) licenses home health agencies under IC 16-27-1 and 410 IAC 17, and Personal Services Agencies (PSAs) under IC 16-27-4.
Source ↗
Personal Services Agency license. Agencies providing only attendant care, homemaker, or companion services license as PSAs — a lighter registration-style license with annual renewal and modest fees, but with mandatory employee criminal history checks.
Source ↗
Home health specifics. Home health agency licenses renew annually; IDOH surveys agencies for both state licensure and Medicare certification, and Indiana requires expanded criminal background checks for home health workers under IC 16-27-2.
Source ↗
Survey process. IDOH conducts initial licensure surveys, then periodic unannounced surveys and complaint investigations; cited deficiencies require an accepted plan of correction, with license actions for repeat noncompliance.
Source ↗
☆ Rules change. We watch them for you.
Get one short email when Indiana's home care requirements change. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Reviewed quarterly by Vitable Health.
The federal baseline (applies in every state)
Federal
No federal home care license. There is no federal license for home care or home health agencies. Licensure is a state function: each state (and DC) decides whether and how to license home health agencies and non-medical personal care/companion agencies, so requirements vary dramatically by jurisdiction.
Source ↗
Medicare certification (42 CFR Part 484). Agencies that bill Medicare for skilled home health must be certified as meeting the Medicare Conditions of Participation at 42 CFR Part 484 (patient rights, comprehensive assessment, QAPI, skilled professional services, home health aide standards, and more), on top of any state license.
Source ↗
Accreditation with deemed status. Most new Medicare home health agencies obtain certification through a CMS-approved accrediting organization with deeming authority — ACHC, CHAP, or The Joint Commission — whose surveys substitute for the state agency's Medicare certification survey.
Source ↗
State survey agencies enforce both. State survey agencies (usually the state health department) operate under agreements with CMS to survey Medicare-certified agencies, and most also run the state licensure survey program — initial surveys, renewal/recertification surveys, complaint investigations, and plan-of-correction enforcement per the CMS State Operations Manual.
Source ↗
Primary sources for this page
- https://www.in.gov/health/cshcr/acute-and-continuing-care/home-health-agency-hha-licensing-and-certification-program
- https://www.in.gov/health/cshcr/acute-and-continuing-care/personal-care-services-agency-licensing-program
- https://www.in.gov/health/cshcr/acute-and-continuing-care/home-health-agency-hha-licensing-and-certification-program
- https://www.in.gov/health/cshcr/acute-and-continuing-care/home-health-agency-hha-licensing-and-certification-program
More Indiana guides