Each person stays a separate client. They keep their own service, care plan, tasks, care note and signature. The visit itself is billed once, paid once and verified once. That means no duplicate bills, no double-counted hours and no duplicate EVV visits.
Before you start
A shared visit needs a few things in place. If one is missing, Careswitch tells you which one and keeps Save turned off until it’s fixed.
Same address. Both clients need the same home address on file.
An hourly service. Shared visits are available for hourly services only.
Private pay. The client you bill needs a private pay policy for the service. Clients with a long-term-care policy can’t share a visit yet.
Matching service and a signed care plan. The other client needs the same service on their profile, with a signed care plan.
A bill rate priced for two. The couple is billed once, at the rate you choose. Add a rate to the billed client’s service ahead of time, so it’s on the list when you schedule.
Same day. A shared visit can’t cross midnight.
Set the Couples Care premium (optional)
If your agency pays caregivers extra for shared visits, you can choose one pay modifier as your Couples Care premium. Careswitch then adds it to the caregiver’s pay on every shared visit, automatically. It doesn’t change what the client is billed.
If you don’t set a premium, shared visits still work. The caregiver is paid their regular rate.
Go to Settings and open Rate Modifiers.
Under Pay Modifiers, find the modifier you want to use. To make a new one, click Add Pay Modifier, enter a name like “Couples Care,” choose the type and amount, and click Save.
Open the modifier’s menu (⋮) and choose Set as Couples Care premium.
The modifier now shows a Couples Care premium badge.
Only one modifier can be the premium at a time. If you want holiday pay multipliers to apply to the premium too, make it an Added to Base Rate modifier. To stop using it, open its menu and choose Clear Couples Care premium.
Tip: If your payroll export uses payroll codes, you can give Couples Care hours their own code. Go to Settings, open Policies, then Payroll, and enter a code next to Couples Care. You can also set a code for one service under Payroll Codes on that service.
Schedule a shared visit
You’ll start from the client you plan to bill.
Go to Shifts, click Create Shift, and choose Manual. You can also start from the client’s Schedule tab.
Select the Client you’ll bill, then choose the hourly Service.
Turn on Also caring for someone else at this visit.
Under Also caring for, select the other client. Careswitch lists clients who share the same address, with spouses marked Suggested.
Careswitch confirms who won’t be billed. For example, “Darwin will not be billed for this shift.”
Enter the date and times. Turn on Repeats if the couple has a regular schedule.
Choose the Bill Rate priced for two people. The couple is billed once, to the first client, at this rate.
If you’ve set a Couples Care premium, it appears under Pay Modifier with the note “Added automatically for shared visits.” You don’t need to add it yourself.
Click Save.
Careswitch creates a shift for each client, linked together as one visit. Next, assign a caregiver the way you normally would. Shared visits can’t be offered to caregivers or posted to the job board yet, so assign the caregiver directly.
Already scheduled the couple separately? Open the first client’s shift, click Edit, and use Also caring for to add the other client. You can also choose Add a client from the More menu. Either way, the client is added to that one visit only, not the whole series.
Review a shared visit
Both clients’ shifts open to the same visit page. The client card lists both people. The client you’re billing has a Billed chip, next to the bill rate for the visit.
Here’s what to expect on a shared visit:
One bill. Only the billed client’s shift creates a bill. The other client’s shift never does.
One paycheck line. The caregiver is paid once, for the billed shift’s hours. Those hours count once toward overtime.
One clock-in. The caregiver clocks in and out once for both clients, and the visit is sent for EVV once.
Separate care records. Once the visit starts, the Care tab shows Care by client. Each person has their own summary, tasks and signature.
When you’ve set a premium, the caregiver’s pay shows it as its own Couples Care line, under Regular Hours.
When plans change
Plans change, and shared visits can change with them. You’ll find these options in the visit’s More menu, under Shared visit. Each one is available only until the caregiver clocks in.
Solo visit. Use this when one person won’t be at the visit, for example because of a hospital stay. Choose who the visit is for and the reason, then review the remaining client’s bill rate and the caregiver’s pay. When you click Make solo visit, Careswitch cancels the absent client’s shift and removes the Couples Care premium. If you’d like to add them back later, choose Add a client.
Bill [name] instead. Use this to move billing and the caregiver’s pay to the other client. That client needs their own private pay policy. Their copy of the rate is used, so the bill may change. You can’t move billing once the visit is on an invoice or in payroll.
To change the times or repeat schedule, edit the billed client’s shift. The other client’s shift follows along. If you open the other client’s shift and try to change it directly, Careswitch points you back to the billed shift.