We know what you're thinking. What kind of case are we talking here? Trial case? Case of measles? Briefcase? Well, actually a case manager is none of that. But it is someone who meets with clients to discuss their comprehensive health needs.

It's not like going to the doctor's office, though. With a case manager, there's a process. This includes assessment, planning, facilitation, care coordination, evaluation and advocacy. Case managers work under the theory that everyone benefits when an individual is able to reach an optimal level of wellness and capability. So if you're ready to help everyone bring their A-game, then you should pursue a career as a case manager.

What Does a Case Manager Do

There are certain skills that many case managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed emotional skills, communication skills and interpersonal skills.

Learn more about what a Case Manager does

How To Become a Case Manager

If you're interested in becoming a case manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 63.6% of case managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 14.2% of case managers have master's degrees. Even though most case managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Case Manager

Case Manager Job Description

Case Managers are social workers whose main responsibility is to gain an in-depth understanding of their patients' situations and to foster a deep connection to effectively liaise between the patients and their options for treatment or healthcare. They should have the emotional capacity to work with troubled individuals, people with mental health disorders, or rehabilitation needs.

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Case Manager Career Paths

Average Salary for a Case Manager

Case Managers in America make an average salary of $43,118 per year or $21 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $61,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $30,000 per year.
Average Case Manager Salary
$43,118 Yearly
$20.73 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Case Manager

The role of a case manager includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general case manager responsibilities:

  • Provides ergonomic intervention for mchs fh employees, the system's workers' compensation claims or medical claims
  • Perform precert and concurrent reviews for inpatient levels (detox, inpatient, residential,
  • Perform skilled nursing facility and acute inpatient rehabilitation placements by review of clinical data

There are several types of case manager, including:

Registered Nurse Case Manager

Role:

Registered nurse case managers work in hospitals and clinics. They are responsible for overseeing the work of nurses at the facility. They plan and supervise the implementation of appropriate care for patients and assist in exams and evaluations of the patients' conditions.

This is not an entry-level position. RN case managers typically have years of experience on the job as nurses, in addition to holding a nursing degree. Due to the complex set of responsibilities and tough patient care decisions that come with it, this position can be quite overwhelming. If you are really good at your job as an RN case manager, you will get the privilege to do everyone else's work, too.

As opposed to the rotating shifts of nurses, though, RN case managers usually work regular hours in 8-hour shifts. Their average annual salary is around $64,000, potentially reaching as much as $83,370, if you have the highest qualifications and most relevant experience.

  • Average Salary: $72,815
  • Degree: Associate Degree

Case Manager Supervisor

Role:

A case manager supervisor is a social worker in a leader position overseeing the work of case managers. Case manager supervisors work for social work organizations or healthcare institutions helping people in need, supervising cases regarding victims of domestic violence, homelessness, mental illness, recovering addicts, people with disabilities, ex-convicts, or immigrants.

Case manager supervisors carry out administrative tasks and oversee the operations provided by their organization. They track clients' records and supervise the management of case files. They supervise treatment plans created for clients and coordinate provided therapies, evaluations, and other activities. Hiring and training case managers are also their responsibility.

If you are a compassionate person striving to make a difference in people's lives and have great leadership skills as well, this position can be highly rewarding and bring you great satisfaction. This is not the position you will be given on your first day of the job. Experience in social work, healthcare, or human services is required, as well as excellent communication and problem-solving skills.

  • Average Salary: $51,023
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Nurse Case Manager

Role:

A nurse case manager is responsible for coordinating patient care services. You review charts of patients and ensure that they receive the care they need, and conduct intake evaluations with patients and their families. Your job responsibilities also include using data and other information to complete the evaluation of patient needs. You are to suggest and ensure that patients have transport to and from their house and all healthcare facilities, and adjust treatment protocols. You are also to follow case and quality management processes in fulfilling regulatory guidelines and company operation.

A bachelor's degree in nursing is required for this job and an active nursing license. You should also possess strong written and verbal communication skills with patients, familiarity with patient databases, outstanding leadership, supervision, and motivational skills. The average salary of a nurse case manager is $69,644 annually or $33.48 hourly.

  • Average Salary: $68,461
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Case Manager Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active case manager jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where case managers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Case Manager Jobs By State

Case Manager Education

Case Manager Majors

15.9 %

Case Manager Degrees

Bachelors

63.6 %

Associate

15.5 %

Masters

14.2 %

Top Colleges for Case Managers

1. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

3. San Jose State University

San Jose, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,796

Enrollment

27,125

4. Coppin State University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,873

Enrollment

2,326

5. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

6. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

7. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

8. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,656

Enrollment

32,072

9. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,942

Enrollment

13,871

10. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Top Skills For a Case Manager

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 16.6% of case managers listed social work on their resume, but soft skills such as emotional skills and communication skills are important as well.

  • Social Work, 16.6%
  • Patients, 14.1%
  • Community Resources, 6.7%
  • Substance Abuse, 6.0%
  • Crisis Intervention, 5.4%
  • Other Skills, 51.2%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Case Manager Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Case Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Case Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Case Manager diversity

Case Manager Gender Distribution

Female
Female
77%
Male
Male
23%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among case managers, 76.6% of them are women, while 23.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among case managers is White, which makes up 74.2% of all case managers.

  • The most common foreign language among case managers is Spanish at 75.5%.

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Best States For a Case Manager

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a case manager. The best states for people in this position are New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Illinois, and North Carolina. Case managers make the most in New Hampshire with an average salary of $55,808. Whereas in Rhode Island and Illinois, they would average $54,615 and $54,441, respectively. While case managers would only make an average of $54,029 in North Carolina, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Illinois

Total Case Manager Jobs: 1,577
Highest 10% Earn:
$82,000
Location Quotient:
1.04

2. Rhode Island

Total Case Manager Jobs: 159
Highest 10% Earn:
$77,000
Location Quotient:
1.03

3. Maine

Total Case Manager Jobs: 270
Highest 10% Earn:
$65,000
Location Quotient:
1.61
Full List Of Best States For Case Managers

How Do Case Managers Rate Their Jobs?

4.5/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Case Manager Reviews

5.0
Aug 2022
Pros

Helping others

Cons

Getting approval and watching families go through their proceed with difficulties


4.0
Apr 2019
Pros

Helping people be successful in life.

Cons

Secondary trauma and balancing administrative work with direct services.


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Top Case Manager Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ case managers and discovered their number of case manager opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Catholic Charities was the best, especially with an average salary of $36,112. The Salvation Army follows up with an average salary of $37,112, and then comes Liberty Mutual Insurance with an average of $55,386. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a case manager. The employers include Molina Healthcare, Centene, and Health First

Most Common Employers For Case Manager

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Anthem$58,803$28.27248
2Humana$58,121$27.94215
3Aetna$57,864$27.82295
4Big Brothers Big Sister$57,492$27.64207
5Amedisys$56,927$27.37196
6Liberty Mutual Insurance$55,386$26.63524
7Cigna$54,122$26.02212
8Evolent Health$50,233$24.15169
9MetLife$50,148$24.11332
10Molina Healthcare$46,661$22.43254

Case Manager Videos

Becoming a Case Manager FAQs

Care Manager Vs. Case Manager

A care manager is a healthcare professional who works one-on-one with patients to help create and manage their care plans, while a case manager is a healthcare professional who coordinates the overall care of individual patients.

How Long Does It Take To Become A Certified Case Manager?

It will take candidates with a master's degree in social work an average of eighteen months experience to become certified case managers.

According to the Commission for Case Manager Certification, candidates meeting the educational requirements must also have case management experience. A minimum of one year under the supervision of a certified case manager will qualify the candidate's eligibility to take the certification exam.

Case Manager Vs. Social Worker

A case manager provides clients with the necessary assistance they need to function in society and refers them to the right services, while a social worker will look into the emotional, physical, and social consequences regarding the client's needs.

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