Built for the way ARMHS is audited
For Minnesota agencies providing Adult Rehabilitative Mental Health Services. AraSync ties every progress note to a current DA, FA and treatment plan, keeps start and stop times on the record, and carries the session through to the claim. Below is what the rules require and how AraSync supports each one.
Checked against the plan before it is written.
An ARMHS note opens only when the DA, FA and treatment plan are current. Wording is checked against DHS standards as it is written, and the signed note goes to supervisor review.
- DA, FA and treatment plan checked first
- Session times and units on the record
- Signed notes go straight to the supervisor
Three documents come before a billable note
ARMHS cannot be documented into existence after the fact. All three have to be current on the date of service.
Diagnostic assessment
Valid three years. It establishes the diagnosis that makes the person eligible. Without a current DA, there is no medical necessity to point to.
Functional assessment
Valid one year. It establishes the functional impairments the rehabilitative service is meant to address.
Individual treatment plan
Valid 180 days. It names the goals and the skills being taught. A note that does not tie back to a current goal has no rationale behind it.
In AraSync, a progress note cannot be completed while any of the three is missing or lapsed on the date of service, and the form names which one. The practitioner can still write the assessment or plan that clears the block. Only the billable note is stopped.
The annual service limit
Roughly 300 hours of H2017 per client per calendar year. AraSync tracks each client’s hours against the calendar year and warns as the limit gets close. It does not block scheduling or billing on its own.
What the progress note has to say
Minn. Stat. § 245I.08 Subd. 4 sets out what a service note must contain. These are the provisions most often cited back to agencies in a records request.
Staff action, skill, and purpose
§ 245I.08 Subd. 4(1) and 4(3). “Talked about housing options” contains no action verb. “Supported the client with their routine” reads as competent but names no skill. “Worked on coping skills” is too generic for a reader to tell what was done.
What passes: “Taught the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique and practiced it twice with the client in order to reduce anxiety during panic episodes.” Staff action, the skill and the purpose, in one sentence.
As the note is written, an AI assist compares its wording against these elements and suggests edits. The practitioner decides what stays.
Client response and progress
§ 245I.08 Subd. 4(5)(iii) and 4(5)(iv). The note has to record how the person responded and what progress was or was not made. A treatment plan that never changes while progress stalls is a finding of its own.
Start and stop times
§ 245I.08 Subd. 4(8)(i). Times, not durations. This is also where double billing surfaces. A practitioner sees several people in a day, writes the notes later, and records overlapping sessions without meaning to. AraSync flags overlapping times for review.
Travel, documented separately
Minn. Stat. § 256B.0625 governs travel time. H0046 is billed per minute, and two legs in a day is normal, not a duplicate. That matters when someone runs a duplicate claim report.
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Staff action What the practitioner did
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The skill The skill taught or practiced
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The purpose The treatment plan goal it serves
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Client response How the person responded and progressed
Where agencies get caught
None of these are unusual. They are the kinds of findings that come back in a DHS pre-payment review.
Documentation that reads as templated
The same narrative across clients, or carried over from last month. It is defensible only if the service really was identical, which it rarely is.
Overlapping sessions
Client A. recorded 1:00 to 2:00, Client B. 1:30 to 2:30. Nobody set out to double bill, but that is how it reads.
Service billed past a lapsed plan
The work continued, the ITP expired at 180 days, and every note after that has no current goal behind it.
Supervision that cannot be shown
§ 245I sets supervision requirements by staff qualification. When approval is a signature applied in a batch, nothing shows that anyone read the note. In AraSync, each note carries its own approval, logged with who approved it and when.
Telehealth and the July 2027 date
Audio-only telehealth remains valid for ARMHS in Minnesota through July 2027. A system that treats a phone session as a missing location, or will not verify it, turns a lawful service into a documentation problem.
AraSync can capture the six elements described at Minn. Stat. § 256B.073 subd. 2(b) against the progress note, and scores an audio-only session as complete. ARMHS is not within Minnesota's EVV mandate, so this is audit evidence an agency chooses to collect, switched on per organization. Telehealth is billed with place of service 02. Payers that want a modifier generally use 95 for audio and video and 93 for audio-only.
This verification is evidence, not a mandate. ARMHS is not within Minnesota’s EVV requirement, which covers personal care, CFSS and home health. AraSync verifies behavioral health sessions because agencies want the same audit trail they already have for waiver services.
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Audio-only session Phone or audio in the browser
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Six elements Scored for the session
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Against the note Matched to its times
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Six of six recorded Kept as audit evidence
See it with your own ARMHS program
A walkthrough built around your caseload, your service codes and the documentation your supervisors review.
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