My goal in establishing CareLinx, which is a secure home care social network, is to do my part to make home care affordable and accessible for families seeking services for seniors and other populations in need of personal care and assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs).

My motivations are deeply personal. I developed CareLinx to address many of the types of problems my family encountered while trying to locate, and then manage, home-based care for both my sister and uncle.  My sister has multiple sclerosis, and at one point, she was quadriplegic and blind. My late uncle, who suffered from the ALS, required 24-7 total care. 

Caring for my sister and uncle became increasingly difficult as my family and I sought cost-effective and reliable care. We turned to craigslist to find caregivers, but the caliber of individuals we found was disappointing. We were unable to hold caregivers accountable when they did not show up as scheduled. A couple of these caregivers even stole from my family members, who were helpless to prevent these events.

Prior to founding CareLinx, I worked and invested in the healthcare industry as a healthcare trader and analyst for a $900 million Equity Long/Short Hedge Fund and in Investment Banking and Capital Markets. I understand the fragmentation that is prevalent among independent home care agencies.

But from a first-hand perspective, I know that families have a hard time finding compatible caregivers. It takes a lot of time and effort, and can be draining. However, it is so important to find the right resource and conduct proper research. Both my professional and personal experiences led me to establish CareLinx, Inc.

I designed CareLinx to help take a lot of the guesswork out of the process. The platform is built to help families directly connect with caregivers that meet their needs on multiple dimensions of compatibility. Professional caregivers provide an online profile and photo, and list their credentials, skills and an optional personal statement about their work preferences.

Family members seeking caregivers are able to review each caregiver's geographically aligned profile, and filter through potential candidates who have been identified by our proprietary algorithm. My belief is that by filtering through a large online network of caregivers, families can increase their chances of finding a more optimum match.

Once a family expresses interest in a caregiver listed on CareLinx, the caregiver can agree to being subjected to an extensive background check that covers criminal court records, identity, education and professional credentials, and reference checks. After a caregiver passes the background check, a “Verified” icon appears on their CareLinx profile, which is then visible to families. We have also recently incorporated a five star review system where families write and post caregiver reviews, which I believe helps serve as a further means to keep individual caregivers accountable for the quality of services they provide.

Once a family-to-caregiver match is made, online tools are available to manage their home care services. These tools include scheduling through a calendar, time sheet management, automated invoicing and payment processing. I have also integrated a GPS function that validates caregiver time cards. I want to ensure that for each hour the caregiver bills the family, it is an actual hour worked. Once a caregiver has finished their workweek, CareLinx provides them with a tool for automated invoicing and effortless payment processing via credit or debit card and ACH direct deposit.

Since communication is key in any business relationship, I have integrated a forum where families and caregivers can securely post their concerns and write accounts of what is happening on a day-to-day basis. Family members often live some distance from the patient and this forum provides them with the ability to monitor and manage services remotely.

I launched CareLink last September and already have a couple thousand active users located across the United States. Subscribers include families seeking home-based care, independent caregivers, and organized home care agencies promoting their own caregivers and utilizing the CareLinx online platform to efficiently manage their business. 

Sherwin Sheik is the president and CEO of CareLink Inc.