Overview
Caribou pulls patient and caregiver data from specific fields in HHAeXchange to match caregivers with open shifts. If data is entered in the wrong fields or is missing, Caribou cannot use it for matching. This results in lower-quality recommendations and more manual work for coordinators.
This guide shows exactly where each data point must live in HHAeXchange.
Client (Patient) Data Pulled from HHAeXchange
Caribou reads the following fields from HHAeXchange patient records. These are used for matching, display, and scheduling.
Matching Preferences
| What Caribou Needs | HHAeXchange Field Location | Example Values | Used For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender Preference | Special Requests > Preferred Gender | Male, Female, No Preference | Hard exclusion — Patient gender preference is always respected |
| Primary Language | Special Requests > Primary Language | Spanish, English, Mandarin | Matching. Hard exclusion — caregivers without the language are excluded |
| Secondary Language | Special Requests > Secondary Language | English, Cantonese | Matching |
| Pets (Cats) | General > Alerts | "Has cats" | Matching — accounts for caregiver pet allergies/preferences |
| Pets (Dogs) | General > Alerts | "Has dogs" | Matching — accounts for caregiver pet allergies/preferences |
| Bed-bound Status | General > Alerts | "Bedbound", “Hoyer” | Matching — prioritizes caregivers with bedbound care experience |
| Hoyer Lift Required | General > Alerts | "Hoyer lift" | Matching — prioritizes caregivers with hoyer experience |
| Disciplines/Services | Profile > Accepted Services | HHA, PCA, RN | Hard exclusion — caregiver discipline must match |
| Patient Gender | Profile > Gender | Male, Female | Female patients exclude male caregivers by default |
| Declined Caregivers | Patient exclusion list | Excluded from matching | Hard exclusion — caregiver is never recommended |
Patient Address and Location
| What Caribou Needs | HHAeXchange Field Location | Example Values | Used For |
|---|---|---|---|
| City | Derived from Patient zip code | BRONX, MANHATTAN | Location display to caregivers, travel distance calculation |
| State | Derived from Patient zip code | NY, NJ, CT | Location display, geographic filtering |
| ZIP Code | Patient Profile > Address > Zip5 | 10451, 07030 | Travel distance calculation, population density check for privacy |
| Office | Patient Profile > Office | Office | Organizational grouping, cross-office matching |
| Coordinators |
Note: Coordinator names cannot have commas in the name. This will cause the coordinator not to surface properly in the system. | Patient Profile > Coordinators | List of coordinators | Assigning the right coordinator to review matches |
Schedules (from Visits)
| What Caribou Needs | HHAeXchange Source | Used For |
|---|---|---|
| Visit date and time | Visit record (synced automatically) | Determining which shifts are open and need staffing |
| Assigned caregiver | Visit record > Caregiver assignment | Tracking which shifts are filled vs. open |
| Visit discipline | Visit record > Service code / discipline | Matching caregivers with the correct discipline |
| Visit status | Visit record > Status | Filtering active visits only (excludes deleted/missed) |
🔄 Caribou syncs visit data from HHAeXchange every few seconds. Open shifts appear in Caribou automatically — coordinators do not need to manually create them.
Where to find these fields in HHAeXchange
Special Requests screen — Gender preference, primary and secondary language:
General > Alerts screen — Pets, bed-bound status, hoyer lift:
⚠️ Not currently pulled from HHAeXchange:
- Smoking status
- Plan of Care details
Caregiver Data Pulled from HHAeXchange
Caribou reads the following fields from HHAeXchange caregiver records. These are used for matching, contact, and scheduling.
Identity and Contact
| What Caribou Needs | HHAeXchange Field Location | Example Values | Used For |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Name | Caregiver Profile > Demographics > First Name | Maria, James | Display name in coordinator dashboard |
| Last Name | Caregiver Profile > Demographics > Last Name | Rodriguez, Smith | Display name in coordinator dashboard |
| Mobile Phone | Caregiver Profile > Demographics > Phone: Notification Preferences | (718) 555-1234 | Primary phone used for Caribou account access (SMS login, shift notifications) |
| Caregiver Profile > Demographics > Email | test@gmail.com | Email Communications | |
| Caregiver Code | Caregiver Profile > Demographics > Caregiver Code | CG-12345 | Internal identifier for cross-referencing with HHAeXchange |
| Status | Caregiver Profile > Status | Active, Inactive, Terminated | Hard exclusion — only active caregivers are matched |
| Employment start date | Caregiver Profile > Employment Info > Hire Date | 01-01-2026 | Determines if a caregiver is ‘new’ |
| Discipline | Caregiver Profile > Employment Types > Discipline | HHA, PCA, HMK, HSK | Hard exclusion — must match patient's accepted services |
Address and Location
| What Caribou Needs | HHAeXchange Field Location | Example Values | Used For |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZIP Code | Caregiver Profile > Address > Zip5 | 10451 | Travel distance calculation |
| Street Address | Caregiver Profile > Address > Street 1, Street 2 | 123 Main St, Apt 4B | Travel distance calculation to patient |
| City | Caregiver Profile > Address > City | Bronx, Brooklyn | Travel distance calculation |
| State | Caregiver Profile > Address > State | NY, NJ | Geographic filtering |
Qualifications
| What Caribou Needs | HHAeXchange Field Location | Example Values | Used For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Caregiver Preferences > Language | English, Spanish | Hard exclusion — must match patient's language preference |
Schedules (from Visits)
| What Caribou Needs | HHAeXchange Source | Used For |
|---|---|---|
| Existing visit schedule | Visit records assigned to caregiver (synced automatically) | Detecting scheduling conflicts — caregivers with overlapping visits are excluded |
| Weekly hours | Calculated from visit records | Overtime exclusion — caregivers over 40 hours/week are excluded from matching |
| Same-day visits | Visit records for the shift date | Travel optimization — Caribou considers work location (not just home) for same-day travel distance |
🚫 Not pulled from HHAeXchange:
- Caregiver availability in HHAeXchange is NOT used by Caribou. Caregivers set their availability directly in Caribou through their profile (days, times, travel preferences). HHAeXchange availability fields are ignored.
- Caregiver skills or certifications beyond discipline
- Caregiver compliance documents
- In service
Where to find these fields in HHAeXchange
How Caribou Uses This Data
Caribou analyzes patient and caregiver data to recommend the best-matched caregivers for each open shift. Coordinators review these recommendations and make the final booking decision.
The matching algorithm considers:
- Travel distance from caregiver's home (and work locations on the same day)
- Prior experience with the patient (ranked higher)
- Caregiver availability and overtime limits (40+ hours excluded)
- Caregiver utilization (ranked higher if they are underutilized)
- Caregiver tenure (ranked higher if newer)
- Required qualifications: discipline, language, gender preference
- Patient care needs: bed-bound, hoyer lift, pets, short shifts
- Caregiver tenure (longer tenure preferred for complex cases)
Hard Exclusions
These caregivers are never recommended:
| Exclusion Rule | Details |
|---|---|
| Discipline mismatch | Caregiver's discipline does not match patient's accepted services |
| Language mismatch | Caregiver's language does not match patient's preferred language (if specified) |
| Gender mismatch | Caregiver's gender does not match patient's stated preference |
| Female patient default | Female patients exclude male caregivers by default (even without a stated preference) |
| Exclusion list | Caregiver is on the patient's declined/exclusion list |
| Inactive caregiver | Caregiver is not active in HHAeXchange |
| Overtime | Caregiver is scheduled over 40 hours that week |
| Scheduling conflict | Caregiver already has a visit at the same time |
What Happens When Data Is Wrong or Missing
| Missing Data | What Goes Wrong |
|---|---|
| Hoyer lift not in Alerts | Caribou may recommend caregivers without hoyer experience. Requiring coordinators to manually filter and wasting time. |
| Pet info not in Alerts | Caribou cannot account for caregiver pet allergies or preferences when recommending matches. |
| Language not in Special Requests | Caribou cannot prioritize caregivers who speak the patient's preferred language. Matching will not be optimal. |
Note that coordinators can modify the languages within Caribou. | | Gender preference not set | Caribou cannot factor gender into recommendations. Coordinators end up manually verifying compatibility. | | Bed-bound status missing | Caribou cannot prioritize caregivers with bedbound experience for these patients. | | Caregiver phone wrong or outdated | Caregiver cannot log into Caribou or receive shift notifications. They are effectively invisible to the system. | | Caregiver zipcode wrong or missing | Travel distance calculations are inaccurate. Caribou may recommend caregivers who live far away or miss nearby caregivers. | | Caregiver discipline missing | Caregiver is excluded from all matching. They will never appear as a recommendation. | | Caregiver language missing | Caregiver is not prioritized from patients with language preferences. |
💡 When data is incomplete, Caribou's recommendations require more manual review from coordinators, which reduces the time savings the platform provides.
Common Data Entry Mistakes
Alerts in the wrong field
Enter "bedbound" or "hoyer lift" in General > Alerts. Not in Special Requests or Notes. Caribou only reads the Alerts field for these details.
Pet information in Notes
Caribou detects cats and dogs from the General > Alerts field only. Other types of pets are not supported.
Pet information in Notes or Patient Preferences are not detected.
Language preferences in wrong location
Use Special Requests > Primary Language and Secondary Language fields. Language info in patient notes or care plans or alerts are not detected.
Gender preference not standardized
Use Special Requests > Preferred Gender dropdown.
Caregiver phone number outdated
The Notification preferences field in HHAeXchange is what Caribou uses for caregiver login and notifications. If a caregiver changes their phone number, update Caregiver Profile > Address > Notification preferences immediately — otherwise they lose access to Caribou.
Caregiver address not updated after a move
Caribou calculates travel distance from the caregiver's home address. If a caregiver moves and their address is not updated in HHAeXchange, they may be recommended for shifts that are now too far away, or missed for shifts near their new home.
What Caregivers See
Caribou displays limited patient information to caregivers based on population density. This protects patient privacy.
| ZIP code type | What Caregivers See |
|---|---|
| 20,000+ population | Patient location (city), ZIP code, has cats/dogs, bed-bound status, hoyer lift, patient gender, preferred language |
| Under 20,000 population | Location (if dense enough), has cats/dogs, shift date and time only |
🔒 Your Caribou CSM can disable display of ZIP code, location, and pets if your organization considers this PHI.
Caregiver Profile and Preferences
Caregivers set their work preferences directly in Caribou to ensure they are matched only with suitable shifts. When a caregiver joins the program, they are prompted to complete a short preferences setup.
Caregiver onboarding profile flow:
Caregiver profile setup - step 1
Caregiver profile setup - step 2
Caregiver profile setup - step 3
Caregivers earn 100 points for completing their preferences as a one-time reward.
On-demand preference updates:
Caregivers can update availability and preferences any time by clicking their profile.
Preference fields include: gender, availability (days/times), languages spoken, travel preferences (mode, max duration), home environment comfort (smokers, pets), hoyer lift, bedbound patients, patient gender preference, and willingness to take shifts under 3 hours.
⚠️ Key distinction: Caregiver availability (which days/times they can work) is set only in Caribou, not pulled from HHAeXchange. Caregiver schedule (existing visits already assigned) is pulled from HHAeXchange to detect conflicts and overtime.
Data Cleanup Checklist
Use this checklist before launching Caribou shift booking or when auditing data quality.
Phase 1: Audit Your Current Data
- [ ] Export all active patients from HHAeXchange
- [ ] Check where mobility info (bedbound, hoyer lift) is documented
- [ ] Check where pet information is documented
- [ ] Check where language preferences are documented
- [ ] Check where gender preferences are documented
- [ ] Identify patients with info in incorrect fields
- [ ] Verify caregiver phone numbers are current
- [ ] Verify caregiver zipcodes are current
Phase 2: Migrate Data
- [ ] Update General > Alerts for patients with mobility needs
- [ ] Update General > Alerts for patients with pets
- [ ] Update Special Requests > Preferred Gender for patients with special gender requests
- [ ] Update Special Requests > Primary/Secondary Language for all patients
- [ ] Verify Profile > Accepted Services matches authorized services
- [ ] Verify Profile > Gender is accurate
- [ ] Verify caregiver disciplines are set correctly in Employment Types
- [ ] Update caregiver languages in Demographics if missing
Phase 3: Update Intake Processes
- [ ] Update patient intake forms to capture preferences in correct fields
- [ ] Train intake coordinators on correct HHAeXchange field usage
- [ ] Set up quality checks for new patient entries
- [ ] Add caregiver phone/address verification to onboarding checklist
Finding Missing Data
Sometimes data is not in the wrong field — it does not exist in HHAeXchange at all. It lives in coordinators' heads, emails, or personal notes.
Red flags that suggest missing data
- Caribou recommendations are consistently ignored by a coordinator
- Coordinator manually books caregivers (bypassing recommendations)
- New coordinators struggle with certain patients that experienced coordinators handle easily
- Caregivers report they cannot log into Caribou (likely wrong phone number)
How to surface it
- Shadow coordinator decisions for 2-3 weeks. When they reject a top recommendation, ask why.
- Interview coordinators: "What do you check before booking certain patients that is not in the system?"
- Track shift refusals. Multiple caregivers refusing the same patient likely means missing patient data.
- Audit 10 recent patient intakes. Ask coordinators what is missing from the record.
⚡ When new information is discovered, add it to HHAeXchange immediately. Make the process take under 30 seconds.
Ongoing Maintenance
| Frequency | Tasks |
|---|---|
| Daily | Ensure new patient intakes use correct fields. Add alerts when patient circumstances change (new pet, mobility decline). |
| Monthly | Spot-check recent patient updates for data quality. Review shift mismatches or refusals for data gaps. |
| Quarterly | Full audit of active patient and caregiver data quality. Retrain staff on correct field usage if needed. |
Good to Know
- Caribou updates shift data from HHAeXchange every few seconds.
- Caregivers scheduled over 40 hours/week cannot see and request open shifts.
- Coordinators can mark shifts as "Do not staff" to hide them from caregivers.
- Female patients exclude male caregivers by default, even without a stated gender preference.
- Caregivers earn 100 points for completing their preference profile in Caribou.
- For permanent cases, caregivers are encouraged to request all shifts in a master week schedule to support continuity of care.
- Caregivers can update their availability and preferences anytime through their profile.
- Shifts starting in less than 24 hours require an extra confirmation step from the caregiver.
- Caregiver availability is set in Caribou only — HHAeXchange availability fields are not used.
Troubleshooting
- Caregiver not appearing in matches
- Check that the caregiver is active, has the correct discipline (HHA, PCA, etc.). Also verify they are not on the patient's exclusion list.
- Patient alerts not showing in Caribou
- Verify data is in General > Alerts. Caribou does not read Notes or Special Requests for alert-type information.
- Language mismatch in recommendations
- Confirm the patient's language is set in Special Requests > Primary Language, not in notes or care plan. Also verify the caregiver's languages are set in Demographics > Language 1-4.
- Cross-office assignment error
- If a caregiver is assigned to a different HHAeXchange office than the patient, add the patient's office as a "Secondary Office" for the caregiver. In HHAeXchange: Caregiver > Search Caregiver > Profile > Demographics > Secondary Offices > Save.
- Coordinator not showing in Caribou
- Check if the coordinator's name has a comma in HHAeXchange. This is a known bug. Remove the comma and the coordinator will appear.
- Caregiver cannot log into Caribou
- The phone number in Caregiver Profile > Notification Preferences > Mobile/Text Message must match the number the caregiver is using. Update it in HHAeXchange and ask the caregiver to try again.
Need Help?
- Contact your Caribou Customer Success Manager for questions about field mapping or data setup.
- For HHAeXchange technical questions, contact HHAeXchange support and share the resolution with your Caribou CSM.