eHarmony of Caregiving - Why I Love CareLinx (part 2)

(Continued from Part 1: Finding the Perfect Match - A Modern Caregiver’s Guide to In-Home Care by Sherri Snelling, CEO Caregiving Club) Essentially, CareLinx is the eHarmony of the caregiving world. Family members go online and provide specific criteria about their loved one’s in-home care needs. The CareLinx online platform then provides a list of best matches among its 150,000 professional caregiver network. You can browse the choices, arrange for telephonic, in-person or videochat interviews to get a feel for the chemistry before engaging the professional. When it comes to cost, CareLinx really delivers for everyone – both the families and the professional caregivers. When the results of your search come on-screen, you see the hourly cost based on that professional’s experience and skills. Also, CareLinx advises you on an average cost for your care needs criteria in the local area so you understand the market dynamics (since costs vary state to state and even county to county). The family and the professional then negotiate the best rate for the services to be provided. This is extremely innovative and effective for two reasons:

1. Families feel empowered because not only have they secured a great match for a professional caregiver to come into the home, they had a say in what the value (and cost) of that care should be.
2. The professionals see CareLinx as their LinkedIn of the caregiving world allowing them to showcase their abilities but in the end the final decision and closing the deal is up to them. The professional feels they had a chance to discuss their skill level and associated cost with the family and in the end the professional also has a say over whether the relationship will work.

The CareLinx system provides the seeds for a quality, committed relationship between the professional and your loved one. As opposed to traditional agencies that just send the next available professional caregiver to the home, CareLinx allows both parties to find their perfect match. In the end, there is less professional caregiver turnover and better satisfaction on both sides because they came to the decision to commit to each other rather than neither party having a say in the matter and the agency simply making the matches. Best of all, the cost is on average 30-50 percent less than traditional in-home care agencies. CareLinx takes care of all the W2 documentation (required by law for health care workers instead of 1099 contractors like some other agencies which is in violation of IRS tax regulations), provides extensive background checks, backs its professional network with $1 million insurance by Lloyds of London and handles all the invoicing and payment administration between the parties. Because CareLinx is an online marketplace and not a bricks and mortar retail establishment, many costs associated with traditional agencies are eliminated to the benefit of the families. For instance, CareLinx only takes a 15 percent fee on transactions as opposed to traditional agency mark-ups of 50-150 percent. And the CareLinx professional network makes about 25 percent more in wages because of no overhead and the lower flat 15 percent CareLinx fee. There is a brave new world when it comes to finding love and finding care for your loved ones. Take the leap and let CareLinx be your guide on great in-home care. Choices. Confidence. Caregiving. CareLinx is the modern caregiver’s answer to finding quality, cost-effective solutions and balance.