Louisiana Community Health Worker Guide

Louisiana Medicaid recognizes qualified CHWs through approved training or documented experience. Services connect health promotion, care planning and navigation with an ordering clinician and supervision. This guide explains those requirements, identifies current workforce resources and helps program leaders build documentation, referral and reporting workflows grounded in the applicable Medicaid materials. [1, 2]

Louisiana CHW quick facts

What do community health workers do in Louisiana?

Louisiana CHWs support access through community knowledge and trusted relationships. LDH’s Community HealthWays program describes help connecting people with food, housing, transportation, utility and other resources. It explains that the program connects people with assistance rather than providing money directly. [4]

For an employer, define the actual population, service area, languages, duties and escalation route. A CHW may perform several valuable activities while only some fit a particular payment pathway.

A clear record should connect the participant’s goal, the worker’s action and the next step. That record remains useful even when a resource cannot meet the need immediately.

How do you qualify as a Louisiana Medicaid CHW?

The current Professional Services manual recognizes completion of state-recognized training or at least 3,000 documented CHW work hours. Current CHW section, issued September 8, 2026. The approved state plan also establishes a training-or-experience qualification route. [1]

This is a workforce qualification standard. Do not turn it into an invented statewide licensing exam, renewal cycle or requirement that every experienced worker repeat a course.

For the training route, retain the actual provider, curriculum and completion evidence. For the experience route, retain verifiable dates, duties and hours. The employer should document who reviewed the evidence and when.

Where can Louisiana CHWs and supervisors find training?

LSU Health’s Louisiana CHW Institute provides training for CHWs and supervisors, based on national C3 competencies. It also offers technical assistance on program development, financing and evaluation and co-leads the workforce Coalition with LACHON. [3]

Ask the provider whether the specific curriculum meets the intended Medicaid qualification route. Confirm current enrollment, schedule, cost and completion evidence directly.

For employers, training should connect to duties through practice and feedback. A worker should be able to explain their role, conduct a respectful contact, make a useful handoff and write a concise note.

What should an experienced worker’s evidence file contain?

Prepare a role-by-role record with employer, dates, CHW duties, verified hours and a contact who can confirm the work. Reconcile overlapping positions and distinguish supported totals from estimates.

The MCO manual places qualification verification and retained evidence with employing providers. [2] An internal “experienced” checkbox is less useful than a reviewed file explaining the basis.

Keep workforce evidence separate from participant charts. A job applicant should not need to retain copies of identifiable service notes to demonstrate experience.

What should a qualification review keep separate?

The MCO manual places verification and retained evidence with providers employing CHWs. The approved state plan provides the training-or-experience alternatives. A worker meeting one of those alternatives still needs the relevant ordered-service and payment conditions for each encounter. MCO manual, page 141 and approved state plan, item 13.d, page 11b.

For a fictional experienced applicant, reconcile hours by role and identify the person who can substantiate the work. The cited 3,000-hour provision does not itself state a universal three-year lookback or statewide renewal cycle. Do not import those numbers from another state’s certification program.

Who can receive covered CHW services?

The MCO manual identifies chronic conditions, suspected or documented unmet health-related social needs, or pregnancy as eligibility circumstances. Services must also meet the ordering and other conditions of the pathway. [2]

Record the relevant basis without inventing a diagnosis or allowing software to guess one. Use the responsible clinician’s documentation where a clinical determination is needed.

A screening result and a payment decision are different events. A participant can have a meaningful need while the organization still needs to confirm coverage and the appropriate service arrangement.

What are Louisiana’s ordering and supervision requirements?

The approved state plan requires a physician, APRN or PA with an established clinical relationship to recommend services. The MCO manual describes general supervision, meaning overall direction and control without requiring the clinician’s physical presence during the service. [1, 2]

Store the actual order, clinician and service context. A program manager’s operational assignment should not automatically substitute for the ordering clinician.

Plan coverage for absences and questions outside the CHW’s role. Staff should know who can clarify the plan, handle clinical concerns and review an uncertain service.

When can the current manual’s standing-order option apply?

The September 2026 CHW section permits a patient-specific order or a standing order. The standing-order option has conditions: the beneficiary must have an established clinical relationship with the clinic setting supervised by the ordering practitioner, and that clinic must employ the CHW or contract with the entity that employs the CHW providing the service. It is not a blanket authorization for every person a community organization encounters. Professional Services manual, CHW page 2 of 3.

A program should document the applicable order, the clinic relationship and the employment or contract arrangement before relying on that option. If an outreach participant lacks the required relationship, preserve the need and seek the appropriate patient-specific clinical process instead of assuming a standing order automatically covers them.

General supervision remains the clinician’s overall direction and control, without requiring physical presence during the service. That distinction allows an employer to plan community work while keeping the order, clinical questions and oversight tied to the responsible practitioner. Current CHW supervision instructions.

Which Louisiana CHW services can Medicaid cover?

The state plan identifies promotion and coaching, person-centered care planning and navigation/resource coordination. [1] The MCO manual distinguishes these from excluded insurance enrollment, case management, direct transport provision and care outside the worker’s training. [2]

Describe the actual activity. Helping a participant understand and follow a care plan differs from giving them a ride. The fact that both support access does not make them the same service.

For mixed work, keep the components distinguishable and apply the current payer instructions. Do not relabel an excluded task as education simply to fit a claim.

What limits and billing materials should a program use?

The approved amendment sets two hours daily and 10 monthly per beneficiary, allows a medical-necessity exception and limits group services to eight unique beneficiaries at once. [1]

Before configuring claims, use the current Professional Services CHW section, fee schedule and the member’s plan instructions. The CHW section issued September 8, 2026 replaces the October 24, 2025 version and includes the current standing-order conditions. [5]

Use the service-date policy and confirm the procedure for additional medically necessary services. A published limit is not a payment guarantee, and a software-generated code does not establish coverage.

Can Louisiana CHW services use telehealth?

The May 28, 2026 MCO manual permits synchronous audio/video delivery for the described service. [2] That does not establish payment for every phone call, text or email.

Record the actual modality and apply current plan and Professional Services instructions. Confirm any later changes before expanding a remote workflow.

In a software evaluation, test participant communication separately from payer coding. A system may help record a message without that message being a covered telehealth encounter.

How should the team distinguish need, order and service delivery?

The MCO manual identifies three possible eligibility circumstances: a chronic condition, suspected or documented unmet health-related social need, or pregnancy. The clinician’s order and general supervision are separate requirements. A need identified during outreach should not automatically create an order or a completed billable service. MCO manual, pages 141 to 142.

For example, a participant may ask for help re-engaging with primary care after a housing change. The record can preserve the identified barrier, the ordering clinician and the agreed navigation work. It should also distinguish an appointment requested from one confirmed, and confirmation from attendance. This helps the next worker continue the plan without overstating the result.

When several participants receive a group service, the MCO manual requires appropriate clinical documentation and coding for the number receiving it simultaneously, up to eight unique participants. An invitation list is not equivalent to the actual service group. Keep individual participation and the relevant service evidence reviewable. MCO manual, page 142.

What should a Louisiana CHW note and referral show?

Recommended core elements include participant goal, date, worker, program, activity, contact method, response and next action. Add ordering, supervision, time and group evidence required by the governing pathway.

For a fictional participant with food-access needs, record the agreed goal, resource contacted, partner response and whether assistance was received. If intake is pending, preserve the task owner and follow-up date.

For group work, maintain individual participation and appropriate service evidence. A single event attendance total should not automatically become a claim for every person invited.

How should supervision and reporting support quality?

Review unclear notes, stalled referrals, workload and clinical escalation. Keep training and experience verification in a separate workforce view.

A director’s reports should distinguish unique people, contacts, services, referral outcomes and unresolved needs. Define the reporting period, denominator and evidence source. Unknown outcomes should remain explicit.

For funding review, keep the actual agreement and service date visible. Trace a sample of totals to source records and preserve the effect of corrections on previously submitted reports.

What should Louisiana CHW software help a team manage?

Evaluate qualification evidence, clinician orders, worker assignments, encounter records, referrals and reporting as a connected workflow. Confirm that personnel evidence and participant records have appropriate permissions.

Explore community health workflows and the Smores Health platform. Bring an approved note, ordering process and required report. Ask the vendor to show current functionality and identify any configuration.

For a demo, use a fictional experienced worker and a participant with an ordered service and a pending community referral. Complete the note, supervisor review, follow-up assignment and report export. Keep actual authorship separate from any claim mapping.

Request pricing that covers setup, migration, training, support and data exports. Book a program walkthrough with Smores Health to evaluate the complete scenario.

Frequently asked questions

Can documented experience satisfy the CHW qualification?

The state plan provides a 3,000-hour documented-experience alternative to the approved-training route. [1]

Does a college course automatically satisfy Louisiana Medicaid?

Confirm that the particular curriculum meets the recognized-training standard. Retain approval and completion evidence. [1]

Must the supervising clinician be physically present?

The cited MCO manual describes general supervision without required physical presence during performance. Apply the current instructions for the actual service. [2]

Which Professional Services version should a program use?

Use the currently issued CHW section and the instructions applicable to the service date. The September 8, 2026 section adds specific standing-order conditions; a replaced page should not supply a later service’s operating rule. [5]

Does a referral sent mean the participant received help?

No. Track acknowledgment, access and unresolved needs separately so follow-up remains visible.

Build a more reliable Louisiana CHW workflow

Bring one qualification checklist, one clinician order and a reporting obligation to Smores Health. Review how staff would document support, manage referrals and preserve oversight. Book a program walkthrough or request pricing for your organization.

Sources

[1] LDH/CMS, approved SPA25-0020, January 30, 2026. https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/spa/downloads/LA-25-0020.pdf

[2] LDH, MCO Manual updated May 28, 2026, CHW section. https://ldh.la.gov/assets/medicaid/Manuals/MCO_Manual.pdf

[3] LSU Health, Louisiana CHW Institute. https://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/chve/chw.aspx

[4] LDH, Community HealthWays. https://www.ldh.la.gov/community-healthways

[5] Louisiana Medicaid, current Professional Services manual, CHW section issued September 8, 2026. https://www.lamedicaid.com/provweb1/providermanuals/manuals/PS/PS.pdf