Reviewing Cases Daily
First and foremost, the task that you'll perhaps take on the most caseworker jobs is the review of the actual cases. Whether you are dealing with individuals being dismissed from the hospital, those who need extra care or families who need certain services you'll have to understand all the facts of the case in order to determine the answer to the question you're answering.
As a case manager, if you're working on a case that requires Medicaid or Medicare then you'll likely have to determine how likely it is that a person will be approved. The same goes with evaluating a family or individual for any type of treatment in general: a review of the case facts and notes is required before any decision is made on how to proceed.
Coordinating Services
Working in case management jobs or in other similar medical jobs requires you to be highly organized and able to coordinate resources and services quickly for those individuals and families for whom you are responsible. You'll need to be familiar with community resources such as transportation services and the locations and hours of health clinics and local government offices. Coordinating and scheduling doctor's appointments, child care, and transportation as well as therapy appointments are some of the responsibilities that case workers have. While working on this and all other parts of the case, a case manager will be working directly with the individuals being helped.
Treatment Planning
Treatment plans are an integral part of working in case management and other medical jobs. Depending on your role and qualifications as a case manager, you'll be responsible for referring others to treatment at hospitals and doctor's offices to receive medical treatment and psychological help among other things. A case manager's recommendations are taken seriously by everyone involved in the case so you need to be knowledgeable about appropriate treatment plans for all types of situations and conditions.
As part of developing treatment plans, the case manager will talk to doctors, psychologists as well as other medical professionals to determine the best course of action. Once treatment plans are in motion, working as a case manager requires that you oversee the entire process, keeping tabs on which medical appointments were kept and having a general sense of treatment progress.
All things considered, a case manager has an extremely important role for many individuals and families who need help receiving the proper medical and professional care. Whether it is referring others for medical services or actively working to coordinate resource as part of your job requirement, the case manager must be a reliable, organized person who has the ability to multitask and accomplish duties and responsibilities thoroughly and efficiently.