Rates, Pricing & Contracts

Overview

Rates, pricing, and contracts govern how TheKey bills clients, negotiates with institutional partners, and formalizes service delivery obligations. This topic spans private-pay consumer agreements, facility/community contracts, health authority partnerships (e.g., VCH), and third-party commercial agreements (e.g., Lifeguard, VA, CareScout). Getting pricing right is critical to margin management, caregiver compensation sustainability, and contract compliance across TheKey's Canadian and US markets.

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Key People

• Tim Thomas — primary decision-maker on price increases; issues notices via Pandadoc; referenced in rate override discussions
• Sandra Daoust — coordinated corporate-driven price increase rollouts (2019, 2022)
• Matt Vijayan — managed facility/community contract renewals and rate discrepancies (Ontario region)
• Sharon Speirs — led Sea to Sky / VCH proposals including flat-rate and hourly-rate options (2025–2026)
• Costanza Testino (VCH) — VCH counterpart reviewing proposed rate model amendments
• Nina Kani — reviewed LifeGuard commercial agreement redlines including fee and price increase clauses
• Steve Koyanagi — involved in Contracted Service Agreement (Phoenix subcontractor) and Lifeguard talking points
• Teresa Heit — originated Contracted Service Agreement (2024); referenced in Kansas diligence requests
• Audra Williams — issued corporate FINAL UPDATE on rate increase policies (2023-02)
• Shadi Gholizadeh — led internal Lifeguard pricing model refinement (2025)
• Angie Markwell — flagged constraints on VCH price increases at Regional Meeting (2023)
• Elizabeth Sparrow / Beth — managed agreement renewals and rate correction in Ontario (2023)
• Benjamin Lewis — coordinated pricing increase implementation per corporate directive (Tad) (2023)

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Processes & Policies

Private-Pay Client Agreements

• Client Consent Agreements capture two rate tiers: Standard Rate and Complex Care Rate, each with hourly and live-in (daily) options. Premiums for complex care are listed as add-ons over standard rate. [Ontario_Client_Consent_Agreement docs]
• Agreements are sent via Pandadoc (TheKey's e-sign platform); client must sign within 2 hours of receipt in Fast Start scenarios. [Fast_Start_SOP]
• Pricing varies by market and office; Care Advisors reference the Office & Pricing Sheet to provide a rate range on initial calls, with final pricing confirmed post-assessment. [TheKey_Sales_Process_Final]
• Minimum shift: 4 hours; minimum monthly spend: $2,500 (consumer leads). [Care_Advisor_Playbook]

Price Increases — Standard Process

• Corporate proposes increases; regional managers review and confirm per-client applicability.
• Notices sent to clients via Pandadoc before implementation.
• Increases for clients with known service failures (up to 10% of slated clients) may be withheld or deferred. [FINAL UPDATE RATE INCREASES — 2023-02-17 — Audra Williams]
• 3rd-party contract clients (VA, Hospital Grant, etc.) accept increases automatically per policy. [Audra Williams]
• Increases to locked/time-bound agreements require separate review before outreach. [Re: Aggreement Renewals — 2023-01-09 — Matt Vijayan]

Institutional / Facility Contracts

• Facility agreements (e.g., Schlegel Villages, OneRoof, CLC, Sunrise Burlington) use contracted hourly rates tracked in ClearCare.
• Rate discrepancies between ClearCare and executed contracts must be reconciled before invoicing. [Re: Aggreement Renewals — 2023-01-09 — Matt Vijayan]
• Facility contracts typically carry 1-year validity; Waterloo/Oakville had 25 active contracts simultaneously. [Fwd: Rate Increases for Facilities — 2022-09-29 — Matt Vijayan]
• Any billing rate change requires contract-stipulated notice; invoicing at an unauthorized rate has resulted in client disputes. [Re: Errors in invoices for Vittoria Iadipaolo — 2023-06-16]

Health Authority Contracts (VCH / North Shore)

• VCH North Shore Home Support contract operates on an hourly rate model.
• Sea to Sky proposal (2025–2026) explored adding a flat-rate 24-hour option alongside the existing hourly rate; VCH indicated this would require a new or amended service agreement. [RE: Sea to Sky Proposal — 2025-10-16 — Costanza Testino]
• VCH (Diamond account) has contractual constraints preventing unilateral price increases. [Fwd: Complete signed agreement — 2023-03-09 — Matt Vijayan]

Transportation & Mileage

• IRS rate: $0.70/mile for caregiver vehicle; no charge for client's vehicle.
• VCH cluster care assignments may warrant higher hourly rates or mileage reimbursement to attract staff. [03272026 Strategic Framework]

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Timeline & Key Events

| Date | Event |

|------|-------|

| 2016-06 | ePath contract expiration; IPCed service agreement transition noted |

| 2018-08 | Tim Thomas initiates margin-based price increase review for low-margin clients |

| 2019-12 | Sandra Daoust proposes Jan 6 price increases to Maxine |

| 2021-09 | Proposed Oct 4 price increases; per-client rate corrections discussed (Toutongi: $31→$32/hr) |

| 2022-01 | Corporate-driven January 31 price increase rollout; red-flagged clients already raised in October |

| 2022-03 | VCH North Shore rate increase communicated: $35→$36/hr (3%) |

| 2022-09 | Matt Vijayan flags need to discuss facility rate increases before acting on 25 Ontario contracts |

| 2023-01 | Agreement renewal rate discrepancies found in ClearCare (OneRoof, CLC); suggested 4% increase tabled |

| 2023-02 | Audra Williams issues final corporate rate increase policy update |

| 2023-03 | VCH contract fully executed (Diamond account); price increase blocked per regional meeting decision |

| 2024-09 | Teresa Heit circulates Contracted Services Agreement; Phoenix subcontractor role clarified |

| 2024 | CareScout Preferred Partnership Agreement executed; becomes largest referral source |

| 2025-03 | Lifeguard pricing model refinement led by Shadi Gholizadeh ahead of commercial agreement meeting |

| 2025-10 | Sea to Sky flat-rate proposal submitted to VCH; VCH requests contract amendment |

| 2026-01 | Nina Kani reviews LifeGuard master commercial agreement redline; pushes back on 5% annual increase cap |

| 2026-02 | Sharon Speirs and Claudia Vasquez finalize Sea to Sky dual-rate proposal (flat 24-hr + hourly) |

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Key Decisions

• VCH Diamond account locked from price increases — confirmed at March 2023 Regional Meeting; Angie Markwell notified. Any rate change requires renegotiation of the executed contract.
• Lifeguard installation fees rejected — TheKey pushed back on Section 9.1.3 installation fees, asserting the flat rate already covers them. [Lifeguard Talking Points — 2025-04-04 — Steve Koyanagi]
• Lifeguard 5% annual increase cap rejected — Tim and Nina Kani pushed back on LifeGuard's proposed Section 9.2 fee escalation clause. [Re: LifeGuard Agreement — 2026-01-19 — Nina Kani]
• Sea to Sky rate model — TheKey proposed operating at North Shore hourly rate with an added flat-rate 24-hour option; VCH indicated this requires a new or amended agreement.
• Time-bound contracts require pre-review before price increase outreach — established after Matt Vijayan flagged unauthorized increases outside agreement windows (2023-01).
• Price increase notices delivered via Pandadoc — standardized delivery mechanism; March 16, 2023 notice cited as precedent. [Re: Fee — 2023-05-02 — Tim Thomas]

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Open Questions & Gaps

• Sea to Sky contract status: As of 2026-02, the flat-rate/hourly dual-model proposal was still under discussion with VCH. No executed amendment confirmed.
• LifeGuard commercial agreement: Redline negotiations ongoing as of 2026-01; final executed version not evidenced in available records.
• Phoenix subcontractor role: Steve Koyanagi flagged Phoenix as a "proposed" subcontractor in September 2024 — no confirmation of finalized subcontract found.
• Rate accuracy in ClearCare: Recurring invoicing errors (Gillings at $35.20 vs. contracted $32; Vittoria Iadipaolo at $37.40 vs. $34) suggest ClearCare rate fields are not consistently updated when contracts change.
• PHSA/agency staffing rates: Sharon Speirs forwarded PHSA certified provider rates (e.g., Care Aide $44.69/hr, effective June 2024–May 2025) — it is unclear whether TheKey is bidding under this schedule or using it as a benchmark.

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Related Topics

1. Client Onboarding & Consent Agreements

2. VCH & Health Authority Partnerships

3. Facility & Community Contracts

4. Lifeguard Partnership (Canada)

5. VA Partnership & Billing