Medical social worker vs case worker

The differences between medical social workers and case workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a medical social worker, becoming a case worker takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a medical social worker has an average salary of $57,093, which is higher than the $41,459 average annual salary of a case worker.

The top three skills for a medical social worker include social work, patients and home health. The most important skills for a case worker are social work, crisis intervention, and patients.

Medical social worker vs case worker overview

	Medical Social Worker	Case Worker
Yearly salary	$57,093	$41,459
Hourly rate	$27.45	$19.93
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	87,792	107,329
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	45	42
Years of experience	2	4

What does a medical social worker do?

A medical social worker specializes in managing a patient's health care and welfare while communicating with guardians or families, focusing on helping them cope and understand the medical conditions and situations. They are primarily responsible for assessing a patient's condition to identify their needs, conducting interviews to gather background information regarding the patient and family, and referring any social service programs that may provide them with the assistance or help they need. Furthermore, it is crucial to identify any signs of abuse or neglect and conduct intervention procedures right away.

What does a case worker do?

Caseworkers are social workers who watch over the welfare of underprivileged individuals and at-risk families by counseling and providing them with assistance. Usually employed under the government or a local non-profit organization, a caseworker must conduct a thorough interview and house visits to determine the needs of the family. They then refer them to any programs or agencies that can give them the specific care and help needed. Furthermore, it is crucial to identify neglect and abuse signs, reporting them to the authorities right away.

Medical social worker vs case worker salary

Medical social workers and case workers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Social Worker	Case Worker
Average salary	$57,093	$41,459
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $77,000	Between $30,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Alaska	New Jersey
Best paying company	Health Advocates	Appalachian Regional Healthcare
Best paying industry	Health Care	Education

Differences between medical social worker and case worker education

There are a few differences between a medical social worker and a case worker in terms of educational background:

	Medical Social Worker	Case Worker
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Social Work	Psychology
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Medical social worker vs case worker demographics

Here are the differences between medical social workers' and case workers' demographics:

	Medical Social Worker	Case Worker
Average age	45	42
Gender ratio	Male, 14.3% Female, 85.7%	Male, 26.8% Female, 73.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 19.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 3.3% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%
LGBT Percentage	13%	10%

Differences between medical social worker and case worker duties and responsibilities

Medical social worker example responsibilities.

Understand manage care, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
Humanize the medical setting for elderly patients by using appropriate compassion in explaining complex information.
Provide crisis intervention, supportive counseling and trauma/grief counseling for patients and their families experiencing acute or chronic traumatic events.
Provide hands-on assessment and monitoring of suspect child abuse and neglect cases of children needing intensive rehabilitation and specialize care.
Provide social casework to patients having difficulty in social functioning, primarily as it affects their health and emotional rehabilitation.
Facilitate family counseling, crisis intervention, and assessments of specials population including geriatrics, homeless and substance abusing veterans.

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Case worker example responsibilities.

Establish collaborative relationships with patients within a supportive atmosphere to assist in confronting drug relate behavior and achieving sobriety.
Review and research leads regarding personal injury cases by obtaining information from the Medicaid recipient's attorney and insurance adjuster
File, close and maintain records in either physical case file or on ETO.
Train new employees and assign tasks in driving and all responsibilities in DCS documentations.
Provide weekly face to face updates to youth and telephonic updates to family members/sponsor with documentation find in ETO.
Facilitate DCS court order supervised visitation during the reunification process.

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Medical social worker vs case worker skills

Common medical social worker skills

Social Work, 24%
Patients, 19%
Home Health, 11%
MSW, 7%
Patient Care, 6%
Crisis Intervention, 3%

Common case worker skills

Social Work, 20%
Crisis Intervention, 8%
Patients, 7%
Substance Abuse, 6%
Community Resources, 6%
Child Abuse, 5%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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