Keep the Check-In Phone Working: Who Owns the Device, the Login, the Charger, and the Update Check

A start-to-finish ownership plan for the phone or tablet an aide uses to check in and out, with the weekly checks that keep it working and the questions to ask before a device changes hands.

Counties · November 6, 2026

An aide's check-in device is part of the care arrangement, and like any device it needs an owner. This guide sets out who should own it, what needs checking each week, and what to ask an agency before a phone or tablet is handed over.

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Decide which device it is

There are three common setups: a phone the family owns and lends, a device the agency issues, and the aide's own phone. Each one leaves a different person responsible for charging, updates, and lost-device steps. Ask the agency which setup it uses. If an aide uses a personal phone for client records, ask how those records are kept off that phone when the aide leaves.

Set the login and the account

Ask whether each aide has a personal login or whether everyone shares one. A shared login makes it hard to tell who checked in. Ask who holds the account, who can reset a password, and how a family member gets read access to the visit records. Write the answers down.

Assign charging and the spare

Name the person who charges the device and when. Keep a charger in the home in a known place, and ask whether a spare device is available. Ask the agency what the aide does if the device dies mid-visit: whom to call, and how the check-out is recorded afterward.

Run the weekly check

Once a week, someone should confirm the app is current, the device has enough storage, the check-in still works from the front door, and the records have synced. Put this check on the same list as the entry log, because a failed check-in usually means a visit went unlogged. Ask the agency how it tells families about app changes.

Close out the device when it changes hands

When an aide leaves or the device is replaced, remove the old login and confirm the records stayed with the agency. Ask for this step in writing. A device that moves between people without a close-out is a common way visit records go missing.

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New Plan Care Solutions is independently owned and operated in St. Louis by Stacie Postol. Non-medical in-home support for St. Louis and St. Charles counties: personal care and daily routines, companionship, homemaking, respite for family caregivers, and day-to-day help while recovering at home. Short-term, overnight, 24-hour and live-in care with no long-term contract. Fully insured, with background-checked caregivers screened through the Family Care Safety Registry. Care visits start at $136 (a four-hour visit at $34 an hour). Every family starts with a complimentary in-home care consultation and up to 2 hours of care observation: no cost, no obligation.

The guides on this site are educational, not medical advice.