Careswitch can help you find a caregiver for a shift without searching your entire caregiver list. You can get a recommendation for a specific shift or ask Looper to help you find someone.
To recommend a caregiver for a shift:
Open the shift. Recommendations are available for Unassigned, Scheduled, Tentative, Offer Pending, and Incomplete shifts.
Click Configure Assignment.
Select Recommend with Assistant.
Looper reviews your caregivers and identifies the strongest matches.
Looper explains its recommendation in the chat and fills in the Employee field.
Review the recommendation. To choose someone else, select a different caregiver in Employee.
Check the Pay Rate. Review and confirm any warnings about scheduling conflicts or overtime.
Click Schedule to assign the caregiver and notify them. Or click Tentative to add them without notifying them yet.
To see more choices, ask Looper in the same chat. For example: "Show me the top 5 caregivers for this shift."
You need permission to use the Assistant before you can use Recommend with Assistant. See Roles and permissions. For the full assignment steps, see Scheduling Basics.
What Careswitch looks at
Careswitch uses these factors to rank caregivers, starting with the most important:
Factor | How it affects the recommendation |
Distance | Caregivers who live closer to the client rank higher. Distance is measured in a straight line, not by driving distance. |
Availability | Caregivers rank higher when the shift fits their availability. Conflicting shifts, absences, limited travel time from a previous shift, and previously declined offers can lower their ranking. |
Qualifications | Careswitch checks whether the caregiver has active qualifications on file that have not expired. |
Language | Careswitch checks whether the caregiver speaks the client's primary language. |
Client connection | Caregivers marked Primary or Preferred for the client rank higher. Backup caregivers receive a smaller increase in ranking. |
Profile completeness | Caregivers with completed matching criteria receive a small increase in ranking. |
Looper also compares the caregiver's matching criteria, including your internal notes, with the client's Care Needs. It uses these details to help decide how well they match.
Looper explains factors such as conflicts, distance, availability, past declines, and weekly hours that could lead to overtime.
Pay rate and territory do not affect the recommendation. You set the pay rate when you assign the caregiver.
When Looper will not automatically select a caregiver
Looper will not automatically fill in a caregiver if they:
Have another shift at the same time.
Are unavailable during the shift or have approved time off.
Have no active qualifications on file.
Rank below another option that Looper considers safer.
Looper may still mention these caregivers in the chat so you can review them. If you decide to assign one, select them yourself in Employee.
Caregivers’ Matching Criteria and Clients’ Care Needs
Careswitch can make better caregiver recommendations when you complete the Matching Criteria for caregivers and the Intake for Clients. These optional profile details help Careswitch understand what makes a good match.
Caregiver Matching Criteria
On a caregiver’s Matching Criteria tab, you can add information such as:
Availability
Specialized care skills
Experience
Driving and equipment
Caregiver preferences
Matching criteria describe a caregiver's background and preferences and a client's needs. Completing these details helps Careswitch and Looper make better recommendations.
These details are optional. They help with matching, but they are not strict requirements. A caregiver is not ruled out just because one detail does not match.
For detailed instruction on adding Caregiver Matching criteria, see Managing an Employee Profile.
Tip: In the Workforce list, use the Matching Criteria column and filter to see which profiles are complete, partly complete, or empty.
Client Matching Criteria and Care Needs: Intake Forms
On a client’s Intake tab, you can add information about:
Care needs
Household details, such as pets or smoking
Caregiver preferences, such as gender or communication style
Matching criteria are factors, not strict requirements. They help Careswitch rank caregivers but won't automatically prevent someone from being recommended if one detail doesn't match.
For detailed instruction on completing the Client's Intake, see Managing a Client Profile.
Preferred, Backup, and Excluded caregivers
Use the client's Connections tab to identify caregivers who should or should not work with that client.
These choices affect matching:
Primary and Preferred caregivers rank higher in recommendations.
Backup caregivers receive a smaller increase in ranking.
Excluded caregivers do not appear in Employee in Configure Assignment. They do not receive the client's open shifts or offers and cannot claim them. If Looper mentions an excluded caregiver, it ranks them lower and points out the exclusion.
Caregivers Can Complete Their Own Matching Profile
If they have the appropriate permissions, caregivers can complete and update their own Matching Criteria directly from the Careswitch mobile app, without needing the office to enter the information for them.
In the app, if they have permission, caregivers can go to Settings → Matching Criteria to add or update their information.
First, tap on your initials in the top right corner.
Tap Matching Criteria.
Update your information and tap Save.
If they prefer a conversation instead of filling out a form, they can select Set up with Looper. Looper will ask questions about their skills, experience, and preferences and use their answers to complete their matching profile.
Any information a caregiver enters or updates is immediately reflected on the Matching Criteria tab of their profile, so the office always has access to their most up-to-date information.
Control Who Can View or Edit Matching Details
Access to matching information is permission-based, so you can control which users can view or update it.
To manage the permissions, navigate to Settings → Roles.
Click on the Role you would like to change the permissions for.
Under Profile Permissions, choose the profile access you want to set:
Employees controls access to other people's profiles.
Personal controls access to the person's own profile, including in the mobile app.
Each role has separate permissions for:
Matching Criteria — controls whether users can view or manage matching information on employee profiles.
Availability — controls whether users can view or manage availability information.
These permissions can be set to None, View, or Manage.
A role’s personal permissions control access to the same information on a user’s own profile. This determines whether caregivers can view or update their own Matching Criteria and Availability from the Careswitch mobile app.
For example, a caregiver with View access can see their matching profile in the app but cannot make changes.
Internal Matching Notes (Agency-Only)
Internal notes let office staff add information that helps with matching without showing it to the caregiver. Staff need Manage access to Employees → Matching Criteria to add a note to a matching criteria field.
To add an internal note:
Open the caregiver’s Matching Criteria tab.
Find the section you want to update and click Edit.
Add the information in the Internal Note field. The caregiver’s own answer will appear as the Caregiver Response for reference.
Save your changes.
Keep these details in mind:
Staff can add notes but cannot change the caregiver's own answers.
Caregivers and guests never see internal notes. Only staff with permission to view matching criteria can see them.
Careswitch and Looper give internal notes more weight than the caregiver's own answers. They use the notes for recommendations and AI screening for open shifts.
To override a caregiver's availability, go to their Schedule tab → Availability and use Set an agency schedule override. Access is controlled by the Availability permission.
Client Care Needs do not have internal notes.
Ask Looper Directly
You can also ask Looper questions about your caregivers directly from the Assistant panel. This is especially helpful when you're looking for information beyond a specific shift.
For example, you can ask:
“Which caregivers have dementia care experience?”
“Who’s available Saturday morning near this client?”
Looper can search caregiver profiles and matching information to find relevant caregivers. It can also compare caregivers based on driving distance and travel time from a specific address.
FAQ
Are matching criteria strict requirements?
No. Matching criteria are factors that influence caregiver recommendations, not strict filters. A caregiver won't automatically be excluded because one piece of their profile doesn't match. However, a caregiver marked as Excluded for a client will be ranked lower in recommendations.
What if no caregiver is a strong match?
Careswitch will still show the best available options based on the information it has. You can then broaden your search, adjust preferences, or post the shift as an open shift for caregivers to claim.
Does Careswitch consider pay and overtime?
Careswitch considers overtime risk and surfaces it so you can take it into account when assigning a caregiver. However, recommendations aren't based solely on cost. The caregiver's pay rate is determined by the assignment.
Can caregivers see internal matching notes?
No. Internal notes are for agency staff only and are never visible to caregivers or guests, regardless of the caregiver's own matching permissions.
Why didn't Looper fill in the caregiver it talked about?
Looper does not automatically select a caregiver who has a conflicting shift, is unavailable, has time off, or has no active qualifications. It also does not select them if another option ranks higher as a safer choice.
You can still review that caregiver and select them yourself in Employee.
Can families see or edit matching criteria?
No. Guests cannot see caregiver matching criteria or the client's Care Needs.