Meet the Team: Kim Karvelas

Kim Karvelas has been with ACHC since 2011. As a senior regulatory manager, she has extensive knowledge of federal and state requirements in a variety of healthcare settings. She is passionate about providing excellent customer service and establishing clear lines of communication.

Kim sat down with us to discuss state regulations for home care agencies and how her role at ACHC contributes to a lifelong love of learning.

Posted: January 2, 2026

INTERVIEWER: Kim, as a regulatory manager you work with all of ACHC’s accreditation programs. For this interview, I would love to get your insights on state regulations, specifically related to our home-based nursing programs.  

KIM: I’m happy to help!  

INTERVIEWER: Before we dive in, let’s talk about how you came to ACHC.  

KIM: Well, I started out as a merchandise planner in corporate retail. Then I spent some time working as a teacher. And I liked doing both of those things, but I also felt like something was missing. In 2011, I joined ACHC as an account advisor. I knew right away I had found my niche working in accreditation. Every day was different; I was constantly learning. Soon I became a regulatory coordinator. And now I’m the senior manager of the ACHC Regulatory Team.  

INTERVIEWER: So, you’ve been at ACHC for 14 years.  

KIM: It’s amazing how much we have grown, and it’s been so exciting to be a part of it. When I started, we were a small regulatory team. We didn’t have as many programs as we do now. But now our team is full of coordinators and specialists, all very skilled at handling extremely high volume. The questions we receive are much more complex than they were back then, mainly because the regulations and requirements are always changing.  

INTERVIEWER: Some of our readers may not understand exactly what the ACHC Regulatory Team does. Can you give us an idea of a typical day? 

KIM: That’s a very long list. (Laughs.) I’ll keep it simple. A big part of what we do is report accreditation information to CMS and other regulatory bodies. That information goes out daily, monthly, weekly, and annually. It sounds like such a small thing, but it’s actually a massive endeavor. We use multiple internal auditing processes to ensure we’re reporting every provider’s information correctly.   

We also spend a good chunk of each day answering questions, both from our ACHC colleagues and our customers. If we don’t know the answer right away, we’ll go find it. So sometimes we’re researching and contacting other experts to learn more. Our team is very agile; we’re responsible for providing information on a wide variety of topics. 

INTERVIEWER: Do some questions come up more than others? 

KIM: ACHC is a deeming authority, so we certainly receive lots of questions related to CMS requirements. But we also accredit nondeemed providers. Our Home Care Accreditation Program is a good example. Those agencies could be seeking accreditation for any number of reasons, but in many cases it’s because they want to bill Medicaid, and not Medicare. So typically they’re asking about state requirements, and those questions tend to be more nuanced because every state is different. 

INTERVIEWER: And we have 50 of them! 

KIM: Plus territories! There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. 

For Medicaid, it depends on what the agency wants to do. Do they want to bill traditional Medicaid? Do they want to go with the Medicaid waiver? Do they want to provide only nursing, or are they looking to provide additional services? Do they want to provide care to the pediatric population only, or just adults, or do they want to do both? 

Some states require agencies to become Medicare certified first. Some don’t. Some of them still have to follow a federal survey, so even though they don’t have an 855, they still need to follow the same process.  

It’s important that we ask the right questions, so we can make sure we’re guiding our customers towards the appropriate answers.  

INTERVIEWER: I’m sure it’s difficult to give specifics. 

KIM: Well, one thing I can say for sure is that ACHC is authorized to conduct initial home health or home care licensure surveys on behalf of a few states. Or, a state may conduct an initial licensure survey, but they’ll accept ACHC accreditation in lieu of ongoing state surveys. Many of our customers prefer to take advantage of that option, but sometimes an agency needs to be deemed to be eligible. It’s crucial that nondeemed agencies are very, very clear on what they can and can’t do. 

INTERVIEWER: What’s the best way for one of our customers to get that clarity?  

KIM: Talk to your ACHC Account Advisor or Customer Care Specialist. Chances are, they’ll be familiar with your state, and they’ll give you an immediate answer or resource. If not, they’ll come to our team for assistance. We’ll research all of the details, and you’ll receive more information fairly quickly. 

If you’re a do-it-yourself type of person, you can hop on your state agency’s website. Depending on your state, you may need to search around a little. But many state websites do have information on entities approved to conduct inspections and surveys, as well as accreditation requirements.  

And some states require accreditation to maintain a state license. Which is an entirely different topic! 

INTERVIEWER: Wow, and I thought a conversation about state requirements would be so easy!  

KIM: I don’t want to overcomplicate it or discourage anyone! Many, many states have similar regulations. There might just be one small process step that’s different from one to the next. But that’s precisely why we can’t give cookie-cutter responses. Before we advise an agency—especially a nondeemed home care agency—we really want to understand their exact goals and needs.  

INTERVIEWER: Do you have any tips for agencies navigating state requirements?  

KIM: I recommend building a good relationship with your state agency. I can’t state that enough. You need to have good, open lines of communication with any regulatory bodies, as much as you can. But especially with the state.  

You know, some of our customers tell me that they prefer not to ask the state any questions because they’re concerned it could somehow reflect on them negatively. I always encourage them to use those state-level contacts! They’re there, and they’re the experts on what they do. 

Of course, I’m always happy to contact a state agency with questions. But some states are very specific about wanting to speak with the agency directly versus speaking with an AO.   

INTERVIEWER: Kim, thanks so much for sitting down with me today. I have one last question. Do you like your job? 

KIM: I love my job! I love the group I work with; we have a great group. I love the fact that I learn something new every day. How many people can say after 14 years, they have an opportunity to really learn something new every day? I really, really love problem-solving.. Sometimes we get questions that are very complex, in-depth puzzles. I enjoy putting all of the pieces together. There’s nothing like that feeling of helping someone solve a problem. 

But you know, our whole team is like that. We’re regulatory nerds, that’s what we do. We’re critical thinkers and problem-solvers by nature. We’re going to keep digging in until we find the answers. 

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Read more articles about Home Care Accreditation here.