Answers to our most common questions
Below you will find answers to our most commonly asked questions. If you still have questions, please reach out and we will do our best to get you an answer.
F.A.Qs
Frequently Asked Questions
We are happy to accommodate requests for references. We are also extremely proud of our long list of five-star reviews from satisfied clients and their families, as well as physicians, and would direct you there as well.
We have been in business since 2014 and are locally owned and operated.
At Cambridge Caregivers, our mission is and has always been to MAKE LIVES BETTER through excellent care and customer service. Each day, we strive to provide the best caregivers and the best care, uniquely specialized to meet the needs of each individual client. We believe in making our caregivers’ lives better as well, and set industry standards in training and benefits and training , evidencing our conviction that every investment we make in our caregivers will pay back tenfold in client care and satisfaction.
State laws dictate the basic checks that an in-home care agency must conduct before hiring a caregiver. For example, in Texas, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (which regulates in-home care agencies as well as senior living facilities) requires that all potential employees undergo a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) criminal background check, a check of the Employee Misconduct Registry (EMR) and a check of the Nurses’ Aide Registry (NAR.) These registries flag people who have committed abuse, neglect, exploitation, misappropriation, or misconduct.
Cambridge Caregivers run additional checks, such as a National Criminal History search, a Social Security number trace, and screenings via the Global WatchList and Sex Offender registry. We also ask for and check references.
Cambridge Caregivers is insured with an umbrella policy.
Cambridge Caregivers is committed to training our staff and believes that ongoing training is an essential element of best in industry care. We offer 42 paid training sessions (in-person) to our staff in addition to specialized training with our Director of Nursing for caregivers who are on assignments with clients with highly specialized care needs which require additional training or nurse delegation.
Yes. Cambridge Caregivers recognizes that clients with memory deficits and dementia require additional skills, and we consequently offer quarterly ongoing, paid dementia training with an expert in the field.
Cambridge never uses contract labor. All of our staff are W-9 employees, entitled to an industry leading suite of benefits, including Health Insurance, Major Medical Insurance, Dental and Vision Plans, Paid Time Off, Employee Assistance Plan, 401(k) + match, Life Insurance, Bonus Programs, Gas Stipends and Flexible schedules. As a result of the respect we show our employees and benefits which we offer, our retention rate was recently calculated at nearly 95%, which is virtually unheard of in our industry.
Caregivers Caregivers adheres to federal rules regarding overtime for any employee working more than 40 hours per week. A client who requires more than 40 hours of care per week has two options: If they prefer to have the same caregiver, they can pay overtime to that caregiver for any hours more than 40 hours per week, or if they are flexible about allowing for additional caregivers, Cambridge will assign additional caregivers as necessary to avoid overtime. Regardless, our goal is always the same: to keep as few new faces on an engagement as possible.
Yes. While our caregivers’ primary focus will always be on assisting with activities of daily living such as safe mobility and personal care, they can also help with groceries, laundry, light housekeeping, cooking, travel etc. We always suggest that clients keep a list of items outside of assistance with ADL’s that they’d like assistance with so when there is down time, our caregivers can assist with those things.
Our state license restricts us from administering medications. That means that while we can place medication into the client’s hands, we are not permitted to put pills directly into the client’s mouth. State regulations will not permit Cambridge to remove medication from individual pill bottles. It is the client or a family member’s obligation to put individual pills into appropriate pill minders. We have RNs on staff who can assist with medication management if family members are unable or unavailable to do so.
Yes, we offer live-in options to our clients.
Our caregivers are W-2 employees who have completed extensive training developed by our Director of Nursing. We have 300+ Caregivers, CNA’s, LVN’s, RN’s and EMT’s on staff. One of the benefits of working with an agency our size is we can handle the unpredictability of our business and ever evolving needs of our clients.
We use an industry standard HIPAA approved app called Wellsky to note all information crucial to customer care. This app is our main dashboard for everything from scheduling to GPS tracked clock in’s and clock’ outs to charting, in addition to care notes.
When a caregiver takes a day off for PTO or illness, or is unavailable for any reason, our schedulers will fill the shift with another qualified caregiver and when possible, with someone who has previously worked with the client.
Our caregivers are happy to accompany clients to doctors’ appointments and to run errands. If the caregiver drives the client’s car, there is no additional charge for mileage. If the client rides in the caregiver’s car, we charge the standard IRS mileage rate.
Cambridge Caregivers has an umbrella policy which covers vehicle accidents involving our caregivers.
Contact us for a personalized quote tailored to your needs.
Our services include:
- Caregiver (8+ hour consecutive)
- Caregiver Short Shift (under 8 hours consecutive)
- Caregiver Couple Care (8+ hour consecutive)
- Caregiver Couple Care Short Shift (under 8 hours consecutive)
- Concierge
- Concierge Short Shift
- ALS
- ALS Short Shift
- Caregiver Live-In
Skilled services:
*Skilled Service visits are defined as anything amounting to 2 hours or less on site.
- LVN/LPN
- RN
- EMTP
- LVN/LPN
- RN
- EMTP
Additional services:
- Case Management
We invoice every two weeks, and payments are due upon receipt.
Cambridge is approved by all long term insurance carriers, and works directly with those carriers to provide the information necessary for payment. However, the client is the beneficiary of these policies, so payment is mailed from the LTC provider directly to the client. The client is responsible for all payments to Cambridge.
Meeting a caregiver prior to an engagement is difficult because prior to starting with a new client, a caregiver is generally engaged with another client, making scheduling an interview very difficult. In addition, we have found that interviewing a caregiver prior to an assignment is rarely helpful, since what they say is rarely an indication of their competency in providing care, which is ultimately of primary importance. Our scheduling managers do their best to screen and know our staff so when it comes time assigning them, we are able to successfully match our caregivers to our clients, focusing on things such as geography, skillset, personalities, availability, care plan etc. That said, we are willing to facilitate meet and greets when possible.
We operate 24/7/365! Feel free to call any of our community liaisons via mobile.
