What does a health support specialist do?
Health Support Specialists are professionals who assist medical professionals in providing health care to improve or restore the mental or physical well-being of their patients. These specialists must create health plans for families while accompanying children with their appointments to receive the necessary health care that is mandated by the federal government. They are required to provide mental health support services by conducting community outreach programs with local vendors and organizations. Health Support Specialists must also conduct counseling sessions for adolescents about substance abuse.
Health support specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real health support specialist resumes:
- Prevent and manage aggressive behavior among clients and administer CPR in emergency interventions.
- Word with individuals with autism.
- Train clients on how to improve their ability to carry out ADL's.
- Train in trauma inform practice, first aid CPR, and individual medication case management.
- Consult with referral specialists on finding appropriate and timely community resources for patients.
- Make treatment recommendations and work with interdisciplinary treatment teams to develop and schedule educational and treatment activities for patients.
- Document progress and communicate to MHMR case manager.
Health support specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Health Support Specialists are proficient in Patients, Social Work, and CPR. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Health Support Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 18%
Assess patients' mental status through interviews or observations and then developing treatment plans or making referrals to the appropriate services.
- Social Work, 15%
Work with other mental health professionals, such as psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists and psychiatrists.
- CPR, 14%
Maintained certification in Blood borne Pathogens, Heart Saver First Aid and CPR through the Red Cross.
- Mental Health, 9%
Provided community-based, comprehensive, recovery oriented mental health support and case management services to individuals with severe mental illness.
- Substance Abuse, 4%
Provide direct supportive services and therapeutic interventions to residents with chronic mental illness, substance abuse and/or intellectual disabilities.
- Persistent Mental Illness, 4%
Assist individuals diagnosed with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness in their recovery by finding competitive, community based employment.
"patients," "social work," and "cpr" are among the most common skills that health support specialists use at work. You can find even more health support specialist responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a health support specialist to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic." Health support specialists often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "engage in customer service to individuals with mental illness and cognitive disabilities problem solve patient concerns"
Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform health support specialist duties is listening skills. Health support specialists responsibilities require that "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." Health support specialists also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "supervised and communicated with patients to promote a peaceful and therapeutic environment. "
Speaking skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of health support specialists is speaking skills. This skill is critical to many everyday health support specialist duties, as "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "presented on several mental health topics, including post partum depression and adhd. "
Writing skills. A big part of what health support specialists do relies on "writing skills." You can see how essential it is to health support specialist responsibilities because "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical health support specialist tasks: "direct care and report writing for persons with severe mental illness. "
Problem-solving skills. Another common skill required for health support specialist responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." This skill comes up in the duties of health support specialists all the time, as "support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them." An excerpt from a real health support specialist resume shows how this skill is central to what a health support specialist does: "investigated and resolved patients' inquiries and complaints in timely and empathetic ways. "
The three companies that hire the most health support specialists are:
- Telecare34 health support specialists jobs
- Legacy Health16 health support specialists jobs
- Peoples Services16 health support specialists jobs
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Compare different health support specialists
Health support specialist vs. Support worker
A support worker is responsible for supporting the community programs and development efforts to sustain and ensure the citizens' stability, providing them resources for their daily needs, and helping them with financial assistance requests. Support workers conduct family counseling to identify their challenges and needs and coordinate with the necessary organizations to process their requests. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in filing documents and guiding the citizens in achieving their healthy lifestyle and make a positive difference.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between health support specialists and support worker. For instance, health support specialist responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "mental health," "mental health support," and "persistent mental illness." Whereas a support worker is skilled in "treatment plan," "social services," "foster care," and "mental illness." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Support workers tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $42,658. In contrast, health support specialists make the biggest average salary, $36,447, in the utilities industry.On average, support workers reach lower levels of education than health support specialists. Support workers are 7.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Health support specialist vs. Living specialist
A living specialist is a person who is responsible for assisting and guiding individuals that have difficulties caring for themselves. They are the person who helps them in doing household chores and guiding them throughout the cleaning process. This career is an important position in society because it provides care for those who are in need.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real health support specialist resumes. While health support specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "social work," "mental health support," and "persistent mental illness," living specialists use skills like "foster care," "developmental disabilities," "mental illness," and "emergency situations."
Living specialists may earn a higher salary than health support specialists, but living specialists earn the most pay in the non profits industry with an average salary of $37,646. On the other hand, health support specialists receive higher pay in the utilities industry, where they earn an average salary of $36,447.living specialists earn similar levels of education than health support specialists in general. They're 4.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health support specialist vs. Support staff
School support staff provide specialized instructional and student support while utilizing school facilities. They often include diverse staff members whose main role is to ensure that students learn in a supportive and safe learning environment. It is also their duty to enhance school climate by promoting the involvement of parent and family in education as well as to encourage trusting, positive student relationships. They should inhibit positive behavior and send uplifting messages to students as they often connect with them throughout the day.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, health support specialists are more likely to have skills like "patients," "social work," "mental health support," and "substance abuse." But a support staff is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "developmental disabilities," "direct care," and "home maintenance."
Desk clerks supervisors earn the highest salary when working in the finance industry, where they receive an average salary of $32,113. Comparatively, health support specialists have the highest earning potential in the utilities industry, with an average salary of $36,447.desk clerks supervisors typically earn lower educational levels compared to health support specialists. Specifically, they're 9.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Health support specialist vs. Intake specialist
Intake coordinators manage the registration of clients or patients for medical services in a health care facility. They talk to patients and their families, determine their needs, and ask for patients' medical history and their mental and physical state. It is part of their job to obtain the insurance information of the patients. The necessary skills to become an intake coordinator include good writing and reading skills, good communication, and attention to detail.
Types of health support specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
