2019-01-10_sdaoust_On-call responsibilities Jan 2019.pdf

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January 2019     ON-CALL RESPONSIBILITIES    • Keep the office cell phone with you at all times and answer all calls right away.  • All phone calls should be answered via the office cell phone. If you are using your personal cell phone and a call happens to go to voicemail, please ensure that your voicemail is professional and reflects that you are from Home Care Assistance.   • All communication to caregivers should be done via ClearCare and not via text messages on your cell phone. This allows clear tracking of all communication to caregivers and gives everyone access to messages if needed. In addition, it will avoid you being bothered when you are not on-call.  • The cell phone should never be turned off. Given that we have 24-hour care, caregivers and clients need to be able to reach us at all times. The ringer volume can be reduced overnight, but the phone should remain on in case of emergencies.  • Expect that you will be on-call from 5:30 pm to 8:00 am on weekdays and 4:30 pm to 8:00 am on weekends.  • When answering the phone, try to get yourself to a quiet area to avoid any unprofessional background noise. If you are in a noisy area, apologize for the noise. Clients think that we are open 24 hours a day, so we want to maintain a professional environment at all times.  • The office cell phone has call-waiting, so if you are on a call and receive a second call, put the call on hold and answer the second one.  • Monitor emails at minimum half-hour intervals for caregiver or client queries and issues.  • Be sure to listen to any voicemails that come in by email and address any issues that require immediate assistance. If the message is not urgent and directed to someone else, please email it directly to them.  • Be ready to access ClearCare quickly. The dashboard should be monitored regularly to make sure that nothing is missed.

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January 2019   • Any missed clock-ins/outs should be contacted immediately to verify that the caregiver is with the client.  This is especially important for overnight shifts. Call the home number and not the caregiver’s cell phone.  • Follow-up with client inquiries immediately and log in the lead sheet. All inquiries are to be contacted by phone. The detailed email with our information and pricing is only to be sent once we have spoken to an inquiry. Leads are to be phoned, even if they request to be contacted by email. The argument is that you can’t send pertinent information if you don’t understand their needs. If you can’t reach them, leave a message and try again later. If you still can’t reach them, send an email saying that you would be happy to speak further, but do not send the email with our info until a conversation has taken place.  • Non-crucial caregiver calls can and should be handled quickly by encouraging them to call back during regular business hours. Client calls, however, should be handled with the same time and care that we would during regular business hours.  • Any client inquires after 9 p.m., should be followed up first thing the next day, unless the inquiry is asking for an immediate reply.  • While you are not expected to answer the phone in the middle of the night (i.e. between midnight and 6 a.m.), be aware that these calls might be urgent. If someone does call in the middle of the night, and they leave a message, check the voicemail to make sure that it isn’t something that requires immediate attention.   • Be sure to update ClearCare with any schedule changes or activity notes.  Notes should also be included to explain schedule changes etc. for billing and payroll. Please include your initials at the end of each note.  • Any scheduling that impacts Monday shifts, should be handled by the weekend on-call person. It is very difficult to come into the office on Monday morning and address immediate/urgent scheduling issues.  • When on-call, Slack only when information is time-sensitive or urgent. In the event that you need to contact someone directly for input, use direct Slack messages when possible.  • Take note of all events that happen when on-call. Send an update via at 7:50am so that everyone is up to date on what happened and is ready to handle any issues that might have come up.    *** To get in the right mindset, plan for it to be busy! If it is busy, it will be as you had planned. If it isn’t busy, it will be a welcomed surprise! **