5 Best ShiftCare Alternatives & Competitors for 2024 (In-Depth Reviews)

The Best ShiftCare Alternatives & Competitors for Aged Health Care

1. Connecteam — The best alternative to ShiftCare
   

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android

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   Connecteam is an all-in-one work management platform that can help you oversee every aspect of your aged care business. 

   Why I picked Connecteam: The platform greatly simplifies the often frustrating, time-consuming administrative tasks you face each day. I appreciate that Connecteam enables you to handle patient records, track hours, manage employee data, and maintain communication all in one place. 

   Another feature that stands out for me is Connecteam’s shift scheduler—which boasts templates, repeatable schedules, and a drag-and-drop interface. In addition, I love that Connecteam is easy to use, offers several third-party integrations, and is fully customizable. 

   To show you why Connecteam is the best ShiftCare alternative, I break down its top features below.

   Create efficient caregiver schedules in minutes

   Connecteam’s scheduling features help you efficiently assign caregivers to services based on availability, preferences, and more. The scheduler includes shift templates and shift-swapping functionality, where caregivers can request to change shifts with or without your approval.

   Plus, Connecteam lets your staff sync their shifts to personal calendars on their mobile devices. This can help reduce scheduling errors and prevent missed shifts. Connecteam also allows you to add notes, images, and checklists to shifts so your caregivers have all the information they need when they start working. In my opinion, these are both standout features.  

   Finally, the platform will automatically notify your team when a new schedule is published or when there’s been a change to any of their shifts. 

   

   Securely store all important company and staff documents

   As a homecare service provider, you have many policies, procedures, safety protocols, and FAQ documents that staff members refer to regularly. With Connecteam, you can store all these documents in the secure knowledge center. This way, your carers always have access to vital resources to make informed decisions, particularly in emergencies.

   In addition, Connecteam’s document management feature allows employees to upload personnel documents directly through the app. They can submit licenses, certifications, tax forms, and more. 

   You can then set and track expiration dates for employee documents, ensuring they stay updated so you remain compliant with relevant laws and regulations. This isn’t a functionality you find on every platform, so I’m impressed that Connecteam offers it.

   Streamline caregivers’ workflows with robust task management

   Connecteam’s task management tools ​​let you quickly create and assign tasks to your caregivers. Tasks can include due dates and important information like descriptions, location, checklists to follow, file attachments, and more. You can even set common tasks to recur daily, weekly, or monthly. 

   Plus, you can communicate with your caregivers directly within each task, asking questions and sharing patient updates. 

   You can track task progress in real-time from the central admin dashboard. This provides an overview of all tasks, which you can easily sort by job, employee name, location, due date, and other factors. Connecteam will alert you of any overdue or incomplete items, and you can send automated reminders to workers to complete their tasks.

   Streamline internal communication with the chat and updates feed

   Using Connecteam’s built-in chat feature, you can communicate with your workers and respond in real-time. Carers can, for instance, share updates about a client’s condition, ask for advice, or report any issues they encounter during their shift. 

   Moreover, you can easily reach your staff from the employee directory, which allows you to search by name, department, and location. Beyond company personnel, you can add work contacts such as vendors, clients, and suppliers to the directory.

   Besides the chat, Connecteam has a social media-style feed ideal for sharing company updates. I enjoy its many functions, such as post scheduling and tracking who has seen and engaged with your updates. 

   Acknowledge your team with recognition and rewards

   Connecteam’s employee recognition features allow you to show employees you appreciate their hard work and achievements. You can create personalized recognition badges to send to workers, post a praise-filled message on the updates feed, or send them a private message. 

   I appreciate that Connecteam also offers an engaging, meaningful way to reward your workers. You can send them digital tokens they can convert into gift cards from vendors they love. 

   

   Ditch pen and paper with digital forms and checklists

   With Connecteam, you can create and distribute custom digital forms in minutes. Whether you’re creating care plans, medication logs, or incident reports, you can design forms to match your unique requirements. Plus, you can access them anywhere, at any time.

   You’re also able to create checklists for any process at your organization. As with forms, you can build these from scratch or use one of Connecteam’s free templates.

   Connecteam will automatically notify you when a worker has submitted a form or checklist, and you can gather eSignatures from employees on any document you’d like.

   Train employees on the go

   In addition, Connecteam provides tools to build and roll out custom training materials and courses to your entire team. Choose from various course templates or create your own from the ground up. Then, add images, videos, text files, and any other media you’d like. You can even incorporate quizzes directly into training courses—something I find lacking in many software options. 

   Workers can complete training at their own pace directly from their mobile devices. You can track their progress in real-time, send automated completion reminders, and record their training history to their employee timelines. 

   Accurate time tracking and more

   Lastly, your employees can use the built-in time clock to clock in and out and record their time down to the second. For multiple caregivers who punch in from a single location, you can turn Connecteam into an on-site kiosk app. Several team members can use a shared device to clock in and out and log their work hours accurately.  

   Employees can start and stop time tracking with a single touch of their device. The time clock will log standard working hours, overtime, and breaks—the rules for which you can customize within the Connecteam app. Then, Connecteam will use employees’ time entries and generate error-free timesheets you can export for payroll processing. 

   What I find especially great about Connecteam’s time clock is that it comes with GPS location tracking and geofencing capabilities. You can set up virtual boundaries around work sites and prevent employees from punching in or out if they aren’t within the borders. 

   GPS tracking enables you to verify caregivers’ locations—either in real time or via a “Breadcrumbs” history of where they’ve been during their shifts. It also means you have a record of where your team members clocked in. 

   

   Connecteam offers many more features beyond these, and it’s budget-friendly for teams of all sizes. There’s a free-forever plan for businesses with 10 or fewer employees, while paid plans for bigger teams start from just $29 per month for as many as 30 people.

   Connecteam also offers a free for life plan – Try Connecteam here!

   Key Features

   • Robust scheduling tools

   • Task management features

   • Digital forms and checklists

   • Secure chat and updates feed

   • Customizable training tools

   • Built-in time clock with GPS functionality

   Pros

   • Easy to use

   • Excellent customer service

   • Affordable for homecare businesses of all sizes

   • Mobile app for Android and iOS devices 

   Pricing

   Free-for-life plan availablePremium plans start at $29/month for 30 users

   14-day free trial, no credit card required

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2. 

   Alora Home Health — Good for visit verification and live monitoring
   

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android
   • Windows
   • Mac

   

   Alora Home Health is an electronic medical records (EMR) management platform that caters to home health, personal care, hospice, private duty, and pediatric home care. 

   Why I picked Alora Home Health: Its Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) and live monitoring system stood out for me. This feature allows your caregivers to check their schedules, capture signatures, and a complete plan of care-based visit notes. 

   Additionally, Alora Home Health has a delayed visit alert feature, which sends notifications when your employee is delayed beyond a set grace period. This enables you to manage delay-related issues proactively.

   Moreover, Alora offers back-office administration solutions like billing, payroll, credentials tracking, physician tracking, and report generation. Its other features include scheduling, communication logs, and paperless record management. 

   However, the learning curve when using Alora Home Health is a downside for me. In addition, I found the system’s reporting capabilities lacking the depth and customization options found in other software solutions.

   Learn more about Alora Home Health

   Key Features

   • Electronic Visit Verification (EVV)
   • Scheduling tools
   • Secure internal email
   • Billing and payroll

   Pros

   • Real-time view of home visits
   • Mobile app

   Cons

   • Learning curve
   • Limited customization

   Pricing

   Contact vendor for price Trial: No Free Plan: No

3. 

   AxisCare — Good for hospitalization tracking
   

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android
   • Windows

   

   AxisCare is a cloud-based software solution designed for non-medical personal care and Medicaid agencies. 

   Why I picked AxisCare: The software provides scheduling and hospitalization tracking capabilities that allow your caregivers to schedule appointments, track visits, and coordinate with clients. It also includes EVV capabilities, ensuring compliance with regulations and real-time monitoring of ‌visits.

   I appreciate that AxisCare provides a client and family portal (with direct access to care plans and updates to keep families informed) and a two-way chat. The software also supports billing to third-party payers and processes payments securely within the platform.

   While AxisCare has customization options in its forms and reporting tool, I found that the reports aren’t as detailed as they could be. I also noticed that the mobile app can be glitchy.

   Learn more about AxisCare

   Key Features

   • Client and family portal
   • Scheduling and patient management
   • Custom forms
   • Hospitalization tracking

   Pros

   • Supports all payers
   • User-friendly design

   Cons

   • Glitchy mobile app
   • Can be expensive for some practices

   Pricing

   Contact vendor for price Trial: Yes Free Plan: No

4. 

   WellSky Personal Care — Good for predictive analytics and integrations
   

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android
   • Windows

   

   WellSky Personal Care, formerly ClearCare, is a software solution that optimizes intake and eligibility checks. It can help streamline the process of admitting new clients and ensuring they meet the necessary criteria for care. 

   Why I picked WellSky Personal Care: The platform offers a unique tool called CareInsights. It’s a predictive analytics feature that provides real-time hospitalization risk prediction, patient-specific use analysis, and care setting suitability analytics.

   WellSky Personal Care also offers staff management capabilities, including applicant tracking, screening, and training. In addition, there’s a scheduling feature and tools for back-office operations and billing, including features to manage EVV mandates and Medicaid claims processing. 

   Additionally, I appreciate that WellSky has e-learning tools and a free Family Room feature, which provides families access to care calendars, notes, and the option to split bills. 

   Some shortcomings I noticed were that the app regularly crashes and its reporting tools aren’t as robust as they could be. Also, it took me some time to get familiar with the platform since it offers so many features.

   Learn more about WellSky Personal Care

   Key Features

   • Applicant tracking and screening
   • Family Room
   • Medicaid claims processing
   • CareInsights

   Pros

   • Many integrations
   • E-learning for continuous staff development

   Cons

   • Reports of frequent app crashes
   • Limited reporting

   Pricing

   Contact vendor for price Trial: No Free Plan: No

5. 

   Axxess Home Health — Good for caregiver-client matching
   

   Available on

   • Web
   • iOS
   • Android
   • Windows
   • Mac

   

   Axxess is a home healthcare technology company that integrates clinical, billing, scheduling, and administrative modules. It provides various software modules, including Palliative, Home Health, and Hospice software.

   Why I picked Axxess Home Health: The software offers matching functionality that allows you to schedule the right caregivers based on client needs, skill level, compatibility, and more. The scheduler includes an information center and drag-and-drop functionality, too.

   The platform also has a point-of-care feature that provides access to care plans, medication, and drug/allergy interactions. It enables real-time communication between you and your team as well.

   Plus, Axxess Home Health’s billing feature automatically tracks claims, remittances, and eligibility verification. Its reporting feature generates custom reports on operations and provides access to all clinical, financial, and real-time activity reports. 

   Finally, the platform offers a mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Unfortunately, I found that the interface isn’t as user-friendly as other platforms. There’s also a learning curve when using the software.

   Learn more about Axxess Home Health

   Key Features

   • Scheduling tool with matching functionality
   • Reporting features
   • Personalized care plans
   • Billing and claim processing

   Pros

   • Teaching guides for continuous development
   • Mobile app

   Cons

   • Relatively complex interface
   • Learning curve

   Pricing

   Contact vendor for price Trial: No Free Plan: No