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How long does GAPP take?
Around 30 days from the first call to care starting is typical. Here is what happens in those weeks, and what makes it longer.
The honest answer
About 30 days is typical, and it is not a guarantee. Some families start faster. Some wait longer, usually because of one specific thing, which we will come to.
Week by week
- Days 1 to 3. First contact and intakeWe talk, we learn about your child, and we start the consents. If Medicaid is already active, we move straight to documentation.
- Days 3 to 10. Physician documentationThis is the stage that decides your timeline. Your child's doctor completes the orders and the plan of treatment.
- Days 10 to 14. SubmissionWe prepare the prior authorization request and submit it to Georgia Medicaid against the physician's plan.
- Days 14 to 30. Medicaid reviewMedicaid reviews and returns a decision with an approved level of service and hours. We follow it and answer anything they come back with.
- Days 25 to 35. Staffing and startWe match a nurse or CNA, agree a schedule with you, and begin care in your home.
What actually causes delays
In our experience it is almost always the physician paperwork. Not Medicaid, not the agency. Practices are busy, forms sit in a pile, and a signature waits two weeks. The single most useful thing a parent can do is call the doctor's office and ask, warmly and specifically, whether the HeartPath forms have been signed.
- Medicaid is not active yet. If your child is not yet on Medicaid, that comes first, and it has its own timeline. See Katie Beckett.
- Incomplete documentation. A plan of treatment missing a required element comes back, and the clock restarts on that piece.
- Staffing for high-acuity cases. A trach or vent case at night needs a nurse trained for it, and honestly, sometimes that takes longer to place.
If you are coming home from the hospital
Start before discharge, not after. The discharge planner can involve us while your child is still admitted, which means documentation happens in parallel rather than after you get home. Read the discharge guide.
Ready when you are.
Tell us about your child and a real person will walk you through what comes next. No cost, no obligation.
Check eligibility Call 678-459-2590HeartPath Home Care is an approved provider for the Georgia Pediatric Program. We are not a government agency, and this page is not an official publication of the Georgia Department of Community Health or Georgia Medicaid. It is a plain-language guide for families. Eligibility for GAPP, Medicaid and Katie Beckett is determined solely by Georgia Medicaid and the state agencies that administer them, based on your child's documented medical needs. Program rules and figures change.