Caregiver Registry Compliance: Risks You Should Be Aware Of In 2024

Another year, another set of worries to keep registry owners on their toes. Fear not, we’ve got you covered with tips and best practices that will keep your registry ahead of the game. 

In this article, we’ll go over the top tips caregiver registry owners should keep in mind: 

• Caregiver supervision or training
• Paying caregivers
• Creating records or timesheets

Caregiver supervision and training

One of the perks of owning a caregiver registry is the ability to pair caregivers with ideal clients in their area—without the need for supervision and training. Traditional home care agencies, on the other hand, require caregivers to be supervised often by a care manager or nurse as well as ongoing training. 

When caregivers have experience and knowledge, they can choose to find work through a caregiver registry like yours so that they can be in charge of their schedule and destiny. 

“Caregiver registries have the ability to tap into an immediately ready-to-work of caregivers who can be paired with their clients for care. That’s a perk that more should lean into as they ramp up their businesses,” shared Julio Barea, head of sales. 

In traditional home care agencies, caregivers must attend onboarding and training sessions which can add to the time before they can start working with clients and ultimately, getting paid sooner on their own terms. 

Paying caregivers

Handling money is tricky with caregiver registries. Paying your caregivers, of course, isn’t automatically an issue of concern. However, if you are paying caregivers from your own funds, this can create a case for caregivers to be considered employees. 

“We recommend using a third-party payment processing system for this reason, because rather than dispersing funds directly from your business account, you can outsource this function to another system. This way, it puts distance between you and the caregiver,” added Barea. 

Pro Tip: Ally offers third-party payment processing functions and issues checks to caregivers in our business name to provide you with an extra layer of protection. 

READ MORE: Home Care Registry Compliance 101

Creating records or timesheets

Are you not the best at record-keeping? You’re in good hands with a caregiver registry. The creation and maintenance of records is evidence that can classify caregivers who seek work through your registry as employees. 

What can you do? 

• You can process funds for caregivers after they’ve submitted their time worked.
• What you can’t do is create or verify time sheets for caregivers to confirm hours worked. That’s to be taken care of between the caregiver and their client. 
• You can use electronic visit verification to enable easy access to clock-in and clock-out features, however, you don’t want to create or manipulate visits in the system yourself.

“The best practice we’re sharing here is relaying the importance of staying within regulations for your business model. Maintaining records and manually verifying hours is a function of an employer, rather than a registry responsible for matching personnel for work,” added Barea. 

Use a registry management software that’s built for your model—not the other way around.

There are a number of risks that caregiver registries face in terms of staying within state and local regulations. You can, however, use systems and processes that work with your business model to keep it clean.

If you are looking to switch your registry management system and use one that has the features you need without having to customize or make it fit, check out Ally today.