Jobs / Education and social services / 21-1022.00
Healthcare Social Workers
Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers. Provide patients with information and counseling, and make referrals for other services. May also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare.
- US jobs
- 187,630
- Median wage
- $67,880 a year
- Job family
- Education and social services
Can agents do the work of healthcare social workers?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Education and social services:
- Task levelUnexploredNo task-level benchmark in our collection tests teaching, counseling, or casework.
- Project levelPartialThin, adjacent evidence only. GDPval, which spans 44 occupations, is the one benchmark in our collection mapped here. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons across all GDPval occupations. No benchmark tests work with students or clients.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in education and social services, not always this occupation's tasks.
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.
- Educate clients about end-of-life symptoms and options to assist them in making informed decisions.
- Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients' medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.
- Refer patient, client, or family to community resources to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness and to provide access to services such as financial assistance, legal aid, housing, job placement or education.
- Utilize consultation data and social work experience to plan and coordinate client or patient care and rehabilitation, following through to ensure service efficacy.
- Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.
- Identify environmental impediments to client or patient progress through interviews and review of patient records.
- Counsel clients and patients in individual and group sessions to help them overcome dependencies, recover from illness, and adjust to life.
- Plan discharge from care facility to home or other care facility.
- Organize support groups or counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, and supporting the client or patient.
- Modify treatment plans to comply with changes in clients' status.
- Supervise and direct other workers providing services to clients or patients.
Other job titles for this occupation (53)
Clinical Social Worker · Hospice Social Worker · LMSW (Licensed Master Social Worker) · Medical Social Worker · Nephrology Social Worker · Oncology Social Worker · Psychosocial Coordinator · Renal Social Worker · Social Work Case Manager · Social Worker · AIDS Social Worker · Bereavement Counselor · Case Manager · Case Worker · Caseworker · Certified Health Care Social Worker · Certified Social Worker in Health Care (C-SWHC) · Client Advocate · Disability Advocate · Disability Coordinator · Disability Specialist · Discharge Planner · Elder Counselor · Family Advocate · Family Support Specialist · Family Support Worker · Geriatric Social Worker · Group Social Worker · Health Care Social Worker · Healthcare Advocate · Healthcare Social Worker · Home Health Care Social Worker · Hospice Home Care Social Worker · Hospice Medical Social Worker · Hospital Social Worker · Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) · Licensed Social Worker · LICSW (Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker) · LISW (Licensed Independent Social Worker) · LMSW (Licensed Medical Social Worker) · Long Term Care Social Worker · Medicaid Eligibility Advisor · Medical Case Manager · Medical Case Worker · Medical Social Consultant · Neonatal Social Worker · Nursing Home Social Worker · Older Adult Social Work Specialist · Patient Advocate · Pediatric Social Worker · Perinatal Social Worker · Public Health Social Worker · Public Welfare Worker