Careswitch keeps office staff and caregivers up to date with important activity, such as new shifts, clock-in reminders, missed clock-ins, and billing updates.
Notifications can be delivered through the Careswitch app, push notifications, and email. This article explains how notifications work, how to turn them on, and how to choose which notifications you receive.
How Careswitch notifications are delivered
Notifications can be delivered through three channels:
In-app inbox: Every notification is saved in Careswitch. Office staff can find notifications on the Notifications page in the web app. Caregivers can find them in the Inbox tab of the mobile app.
Push notifications: Office staff receive browser notifications, while caregivers receive notifications on their phones.
Email: Notifications can also be sent to the email address associated with your Careswitch account. Emails come from [email protected].
Push and email notifications are turned on by default. You can turn either delivery method off in your notification preferences.
Note: Careswitch does not send notifications by text message. Text messages are only used for login codes and app invitations.
Your notification preferences are tied to your Careswitch account, so they apply across every agency you work with. Your in-app notifications are specific to each agency's workspace.
For Office Staff
View your notifications
To view notifications in the Careswitch web app:
Click your profile on the bottom the sidebar. A badge on your profile picture shows the number of unread notifications.
Select Notifications.
Use the filter at the top of the page to view a specific type of notification.
Click Mark All Read to clear your unread notifications.
Click a notification to open the related shift, policy, invoice, or client profile.
Turn on browser push notifications
Browser push notifications are set up for the specific browser you use to access Careswitch.
Click your profile in the sidebar.
Select Careswitch Account.
Scroll to the Settings section.
Find Web push notifications and click Register.
When your browser asks for permission, select Allow.
Careswitch will send you a confirmation notification, and the page will show the browser that is registered.
Your account can have one registered browser at a time. Registering a different browser or computer replaces the previous registration.
If you start using a different computer or browser, register it again from that device.
What office staff receive notifications about
The notifications you receive depend on your role and permissions. You can also turn off certain notification types in your notification preferences.
Office staff may receive notifications about:
Missed clock-ins and clock-outs: When a caregiver does not clock in or out within a few minutes of the scheduled time.
Unfilled shifts: When an open or offered shift is still unassigned about 24 hours before it starts. This gives scheduling staff time to find coverage. See Filling open shifts and handling caregiver callouts.
Open shift claims: When a caregiver claims an open shift. Notifications are sent to staff who share the same role as the person who posted the shift.
Policy overages: When applying or editing a policy, or a late clock-out, causes billable hours to exceed a policy's limits.
Policy decisions: When a submitted third-party policy is approved or rejected.
Rejected claims: When a payer rejects a claim. Billing staff and admins receive the payer's message.
EVV status updates: For agencies using Sandata EVV, when a visit is submitted, accepted, rejected, or blocked.
Service and professional updates: When a teammate creates or updates a service or professional profile and adds you to the update.
For Caregivers (mobile app)
Turn on phone notifications
When you sign in to the Careswitch mobile app, you'll be asked whether you want to allow notifications.
Download and sign in to the Careswitch mobile app. See Getting a caregiver into the app.
When prompted to allow notifications, tap Allow.
Your phone is automatically registered for notifications when you sign in and allow notifications.
If you previously declined notifications or the permission prompt did not appear, you can turn them on in either of these ways:
In the Careswitch app:
Tap your profile
Tap Enable Notifications
In your phone's settings:
iPhone: Go to Settings → Notifications → Careswitch and allow notifications.
Android: Go to Settings → Apps → Careswitch → Notifications and allow notifications.
Notifications are tied to the phone where you are signed in. If you get a new phone, sign in to Careswitch on the new phone and allow notifications again.
What caregivers receive notifications about
Caregivers may receive notifications about:
New shift assignments and offers: When you're assigned to a shift or receive an offer to accept or decline. Tentative assignments do not send a notification until the assignment is confirmed. See Schedule vs. Offer vs. Tentative.
Open shifts: When an open shift is posted to the Job Board for you to claim.
Offer reminders: About 48 hours before a shift, if an offer or open shift you were notified about has not been answered.
Pre-shift confirmations: When your agency requires attendance confirmation for a service, you'll be asked to confirm that you plan to attend.
Clock-in reminders: 1 hour, 15 minutes, and 5 minutes before a scheduled shift starts. If you haven't clocked in a few minutes after the shift starts, you'll also receive a Clock In Missed notification.
Clock-out reminders: 15 and 5 minutes before a shift ends. If you haven't clocked out after the scheduled end time, you'll receive a Clock Out Missed notification.
Chat messages: You receive a push notification when you receive a new Chat message.
Most caregiver notifications also appear in the Inbox tab of the mobile app. Chat messages are different: they are delivered as push notifications and appear in the Chat tab instead of the Inbox.
Chat notifications are always sent and are not affected by your notification preferences.
Choose What You Receive
You can control which notification channels and notification types you receive from your Careswitch account.
Go to:
Profile
Careswitch Account
Notification Preferences
Caregivers can access these settings through the Careswitch web portal using the same phone number or email address they use for the mobile app. The mobile app does not have settings for individual notification types.
Choose notification types
You can also turn individual notification types on or off:
All Shifts: Shift notifications for all shifts you have access to. For office staff, this includes missed clock-in and missed clock-out notifications.
Assigned Shifts: Notifications about shifts assigned to you. For caregivers, this includes new assignments, offers, and clock-in and clock-out reminders.
Open Shift Posts: Notifications about open shifts posted to the Job Board.
Open Shift Post Claims: Notifications when an open shift is claimed. You are only notified about posts created by someone who shares your role.
Shift Offer Reminders: Reminders about offers or open shifts you have not responded to as the shift approaches.
Unfilled Shift Alerts: Notifications when an open or offered shift is still unassigned shortly before it starts.
Service Updates: Notifications when someone creates or updates a service and adds you to the update.
Professional Updates: Notifications when someone creates or updates a professional profile and adds you to the update.
Policy Overages from Policy Application / Policy Update / Late Clock-Out: Notifications related to policy overages caused by these actions.
Turning off a notification type stops its push and email notifications, but the notification will still appear in your in-app inbox.
Some notification types, including policy decisions and rejected claims, do not have individual toggles. These notifications follow your overall delivery method settings.
Choose your delivery method
Under Delivery Method, you can turn Email and Push notifications on or off.
Turn Email off to stop notification emails.
Turn Push off to stop browser or phone push notifications.
You can use either method independently.
Your in-app inbox will continue recording notifications even if you turn off email or push.
Frequently asked questions
I registered for browser push notifications, but they stopped. Why?
Your account can have only one registered browser at a time. If you register a different browser or computer, the new registration replaces the previous one.
To register the browser you currently use, follow these steps.
You should also check that your browser and operating system allow notifications. For example, Focus mode on macOS or Do Not Disturb on Windows can prevent notifications from appearing.
Why didn't the caregiver get a notification when I assigned them to a shift?
Check how the shift was assigned.
Schedule and Offer send a notification to the caregiver.
Tentative does not send a notification until the assignment is confirmed.
For more information, see Schedule vs. Offer vs. Tentative.
A caregiver isn't receiving notifications. What should we check?
Try the following:
Make sure the caregiver is signed in to the Careswitch app on the phone they currently use. Signing in on a new phone moves notifications to that phone.
Make sure Careswitch notifications are allowed in the phone's settings:
iPhone: Settings → Notifications → Careswitch
Android: Settings → Apps → Careswitch → Notifications
The caregiver can also open the Careswitch app and go to Profile (Settings) → Enable Notifications.
Have the caregiver open the app while signed in. This registers the phone for notifications.
In the caregiver's web portal account settings, make sure Push is turned on under Delivery Method and that relevant notification types, such as Assigned Shifts, are enabled.
If push notifications are still unavailable, the caregiver can check the Inbox in the mobile app or their email for notifications.
If I turn off a notification type, is the notification gone completely?
No. Turning off a notification type stops the push and email notifications, but the notification is still recorded in your in-app inbox.
Chat messages are the exception. Chat notifications are always delivered as push notifications and are not affected by notification preferences.
Can I receive emails only or push notifications only?
Yes. Email and Push are controlled separately under Delivery Method.
You can turn off either one and continue receiving notifications through the other.
Careswitch notification emails come from [email protected]. If you aren't seeing them, check your spam or junk folder and consider adding this address to your contacts.
Who receives missed clock-in and missed clock-out notifications?
The caregiver receives a notification reminding them to clock in or out.
On the office side, active staff members whose roles allow them to view or manage shifts receive the missed clock-in or clock-out notification. This includes workspace admins.
Staff members can turn off these notifications by disabling the All Shifts notification type in their notification preferences.
Do clients and family members receive notifications?
Yes. Clients and family members can receive notifications when they have been given guest access to Careswitch.
Guests may be notified when:
A caregiver is assigned to their shift.
A shift is completed.
A private-pay invoice is ready for payment.
A private-pay payment is received.
Guests manage their notification delivery preferences the same way staff do.
Can notifications be sent by text message?
No. Careswitch does not send notifications by text message.
Text messages are used only for sign-in codes and app invitations. Notifications are delivered through the Careswitch app, push notifications, and email.