An alternative to home care agencies, CareLinx is a nationwide caregiving platform that offers affordable home care services to aging adults. Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar agencies, CareLinx gives clients the chance to directly search, interview, and hire the right caregivers through its platform.
With no caregiver agency markups, you can save up to 50 percent on in-home care services using CareLinx’s tech-geared platform. If you’re looking for affordable home care, then you just might find it on CareLinx.
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Pros and Cons of CareLinx
Pros
- Rigorous caregiver screening process: At CareLinx, all caregivers undergo a rigorous background check. You’re technically hiring them yourself, but CareLinx takes some of the risk out of hiring private care.
- Affordable home care: Home care services can cost up to $35 per hour, but CareLinx caregivers are often half that price.
- On-demand nurses and staffing solutions: In addition to matching qualified caregivers with seniors, CareLinx offers a medical staffing division known as Nurse OnDemand. This division offers on-demand, licensed nurses to better serve patients in a home setting, skilled nursing facility, or senior care communities.
- Long-term care benefits: CareLinx home care is accepted by major long-term care insurance providers such as MetLife, Genworth, and John Hancock.
Cons
- More work than agencies: CareLinx screens each of its caregivers, but it’s up to you to find and interview candidates. In comparison, home care agencies such as Granny Nannies do all this work for you.
- No brick-and-mortar location: Unfortunately, CareLinx has no brick-and-mortar locations, so you have to contact customer support to seek virtual assistance.
Connect with local caregivers on Care.com.
What Is CareLinx?
CareLinx is a nationwide home care platform of over 400,000 caregivers aimed at improving health outcomes for aging adults. With CareLinx, you can find and interview caregivers, and then schedule in-home visits. Meanwhile, CareLinx handles issues related to certifications, background checks, insurance, and payment. With CareLinx, you can generally expect lower prices and greater flexibility compared with a home care agency.
CareLinx Over Time
CareLinx was founded in 2011 by Sherwin Sheik, an entrepreneur who saw a need for a more efficient way to connect families with home care providers. The company began as a tech-enabled home-based care company that coordinated non-medical personal care services. It has since evolved to include clinical care services under its Nurse OnDemand business line.
CareLinx is headquartered in Burlingame, California, and has a network of over 450,000 care providers across the U.S. The company has raised over $65 million in funding from investors such as Generali, Accel Partners, and Oak Investment Partners.
CareLinx is a leading provider of home care services in the United States. The company has helped over 1 million families find and hire home care providers. CareLinx is committed to providing high-quality, affordable home care services to families in need.
Types of Care
CareLinx is intended for older adults who need assistance with companionship and activities of daily living such as bathing, grooming, toileting, and mobility. Some CareLinx caregivers also provide specialized care and attention for seniors with chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and Parkinson’s.
What Are the Limits of CareLinx?
Unlike a service like Papa, which offers exclusively companion care, CareLinx provides a full range of home care services, including companionship, personal care, and even some skilled nursing services.
More of a platform than a service, CareLinx provides you with the tools to find your own caregiver. By using the company’s search tool, you can specify the type of help you need and search a database of local caregivers who can provide those services. Unlike hiring a private caregiver — wherein you have to handle issues of background checks, payroll, and insurance — CareLinx does this for you.
Most home care agencies will assess your needs and choose a caregiver for you. CareLinx, however, allows you to select your own. The upside is greater flexibility; the downside is that you have to put in more time searching for and interviewing candidates.
CareLinx vs. Home Care Agency
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How Much Does CareLinx Cost?
CareLinx caregivers set their own prices, but you can expect to pay between $10 and $25 per hour. Companion care will generally cost less, while more skilled care (toileting, feeding, and mobility, for example) will cost more.
How to Use CareLinx
If you’re looking for on-demand home care services for a loved one, then CareLinx can provide an experienced caregiver through the touch of a button. With over 400,000 qualified caregivers in the network, you can find immediate, short-term, or long-term care for daily-living tasks such as bathing, grooming, toileting, and meal prep.
To find a caregiver on CareLinx, you can go to the company’s website and click on “Find a Caregiver.” From there, you will find a drop-down menu that asks for your ZIP code and the person needing home care services. Once you enter those details, you’ll receive a series of brief questions about care needs, when you need the service to begin, the duration of the care, the approximate weekly hours needed, and any health conditions you have.
From there, you can begin messaging and interviewing candidates. You can also post a job, and caregivers will reach out to you to apply.
CareLinx App
The CareLinx app, available on iOS and Android devices, offers a similar set of features as the website.
Some of the features of the CareLinx app include:
- Digital care plan: You can view your digital care plan, and view past, upcoming, and future caregiving tasks with real-time updates. You will also have access to a care team and clock-in features.
- Direct messaging: You can chat with your caregiver and share photos or other important updates via instant messaging.
- Geolocation: You can see the exact geolocation coordinates when caregivers clock in and clock out for extra peace of mind.
- Dedicated care advisers: You can search for caregivers or consult with a care adviser to help you hire or find the best match.
- Free online classes: CareLinx offers many educational tools, such as free online classes on caregiving through CareAcademy.
- Search for caregivers: With a user-friendly interface, you can easily search for caregivers and view their profiles, pictures, and whether they’ve been verified with a special badge.
How to Become a Caregiver With CareLinx
Register for free through CareLinx to be part of a network of over 400,000 caregivers. To sign up, visit the company’s website.
You will need to enter an email address and create a password to build your caregiver profile. You can also link your Facebook account so it will automatically prefill your information when creating a CareLinx account. Next, you will need to fill out your contact information so families can easily contact you when you sign up as a caregiver.
Once you’ve created a profile, you will need to verify your phone number, undergo a background check, and pay a $20 fee. It will take three to seven business days to process the background check. From there, you should be good to go as a caregiver for CareLinx.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for professional home care services with qualified, on-demand caregivers, then CareLinx may be worth a try. CareLinx will most likely cost less than a home care agency, but you’ll have to put in a bit more legwork to find and schedule care.
With costs of home care continuing to rise, I appreciate any solution that provides affordable access to care. In this way, I think CareLinx is an invaluable tool.
To learn more about home care and caregiving techniques, check out our guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Does CareLinx do background checks?
Yes, CareLinx conducts background checks on its caregivers.
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Does CareLinx accept Medicare or Medicaid?
No, unfortunately CareLinx does not accept Medicare or Medicaid.
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Does it cost money to use CareLinx?
Yes, there’s a 20% service fee applied on each caregiver invoice.
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Is CareLinx legitimate?
Yes, CareLinx is a legitimate nationwide caregiver marketplace platform.
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Can CareLinx caregivers provide medical care?
Caregivers can provide medication reminders, but they can’t assist with medical care. If you need specialized medical care, then I recommend looking into the company’s Nurse OnDemand program, which will help dispatch a nurse to your home, skilled nursing facility, or senior living community. Services may include transitional care support and health risk assessments.
