A home health medical social worker visits patients when a physician or allowed practitioner orders social work. Their job is to fix problems that get in the way of recovery. They line up community help, plan long-term care with families, give short-term counseling and report suspected abuse as state law requires.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, home health care agencies · BLS, May 2025
We're hiring a Medical Social Worker to help home health patients and families with problems that get in the way of recovery, such as money, housing, caregiver strain, depression, and planning for long-term care. You'll visit patients when a physician or allowed practitioner orders social work, connect families to community help, and help the care team plan safe next steps.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Complete psychosocial assessments covering the living situation, support system, finances, mental health, and safety.
Connect patients to help such as Medicaid, meal delivery, the Area Agency on Aging, transportation, and utility assistance.
Help families plan long-term care, such as assisted living, nursing home placement, or hospice, and explain how each is paid for.
Give short-term counseling for adjustment to illness, grief, and caregiver stress, within the scope of your license.
Help patients complete advance directives and [your state's POLST form], and share their wishes with the care team.
Report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation to Adult Protective Services or your state's agency, as your state requires.
Document visits and the social work plan in [your EMR], and share findings at case conferences.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Make [3–5] home visits, often longer than a nursing visit.
Call Medicaid offices, community agencies, and senior living communities for patients on your caseload.
Talk with RN Case Managers about patients who live alone, can't afford medications, or seem unsafe.
Follow up on applications and referrals you started.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Social work referrals seen within policy: [your target].
Community resource referrals completed: [your target].
Psychosocial assessments completed on time: [your target].
Social work notes finished within policy: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Master's degree in social work (MSW) from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).
Active [State] social work license, such as LMSW or LCSW, where your state requires one.
[1+] years of social work experience in a health care setting.
Knows local Medicaid, waiver, housing, and aging services in [your service area], or can learn them quickly.
Valid driver's license, auto insurance, and reliable transportation for home visits.
Keeps patient information private under HIPAA, including in homes and on the phone.
6. Preferred Experience
Home health, hospice, or hospital case management experience.
LCSW license.
Experience with dementia caregivers, end-of-life planning, or behavioral health.
Can talk with patients in [language].
7. Physical Requirements
Driving to homes across the service area and climbing stairs into them.
Sitting with patients and families for long conversations, and working at a computer between visits.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Patients' homes across [your service area], plus case conferences in the office.
Hard conversations with families about money, safety, and end-of-life choices.
Homes that may be unsafe, crowded, or cluttered; follow our safety policy and leave if you feel at risk.
Weekday schedule: [your hours], with mileage per [your mileage policy].
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new medical social worker gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
A hospital social worker meets patients on the unit and plans the discharge. In home health the social worker sees the patient's life as it is, and Medicare's rules decide which of those visits are covered.
Visits need an order and a medical reason
Medicare covers home health social work only when it's ordered in the plan of care. It must be needed to solve social or emotional problems that block treatment or slow recovery. It is also a dependent service: the patient must need skilled nursing, PT, speech or continuing OT too. When the last of those ends, social work visits are no longer covered. Source: 42 CFR 409.45: Dependent services requirements (Cornell LII).
Family visits are short by rule
Medicare's manual covers social work for a family member or caregiver only in short bursts of two or three visits. The person's actions must clearly get in the way of the patient's care or recovery. Long-term help for family members, such as ongoing alcohol counseling, isn't covered. The social worker refers the family elsewhere for that. Source: CMS Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 7: Home health services (PDF).
Medicaid help has a catch
The same manual says Medicare won't cover a social worker filling out a Medicaid form, because the state must help anyone who applies. Other help can be covered when money problems hold back recovery. The social worker can review the patient's finances, set up meals or medicine delivery, and get the state Medicaid office to help with the form. Source: CMS Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 7: Home health services (PDF).
Social workers add to OASIS but don't complete it
CMS's OASIS manual calls social workers skilled professionals but not a qualifying Medicare home health service, and it says they can't complete the comprehensive assessment. If agency policy allows, they can share what they learn with the nurse or therapist who does it. They also bring the home and family picture to case conferences. Source: CMS: OASIS-E2 Manual, effective April 1, 2026 (PDF).
Abuse reports follow state law
State laws decide who must report suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of an adult, what counts, when to report and to whom. That may be adult protective services, the police or a licensing agency. The rules vary a lot from state to state. The social worker should know yours and help nurses and aides file reports. Source: NCEA and NAPSA: Mandated reporting of abuse of older adults and adults with disabilities (PDF).
How much home health medical social workers make
The closest BLS group for home health medical social workers is healthcare social workers. Healthcare social workers who work for home health care agencies earned a median of $33.98 an hour ($70,680 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $67,880 median for healthcare social workers in all industries. About 26,430 of the 187,630 healthcare social workers in that survey work for home health care agencies.
Many agencies pay a social worker per visit or keep one part-time MSW for all branches, since social work orders come in smaller numbers than nursing orders. Settle in the offer how phone and paperwork time between visits is handled.
Home health care agencies
$70,680$70,680 median Middle half $60,580–$80,830 10th–90th $49,270–$97,320
All industries
$67,880$67,880 median Middle half $56,710–$82,240 10th–90th $46,220–$100,360
$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k$100k$110k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Home health care agencies
$49,270
$60,580
$70,680
$80,830
$97,320
All industries
$46,220
$56,710
$67,880
$82,240
$100,360
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Sizes up a home's safety, money and support in one visit and writes it up plainly
Knows the local Medicaid waiver, Area Agency on Aging and housing programs, or learns them fast
Talks with families about nursing home costs and end-of-life choices without rushing them
Keeps counseling short-term and within the license, and refers out when needed
Writes notes that tie each visit to the patient's medical treatment
Teach these on the job
How social work orders reach you and your referral forms
Your state's advance directive and POLST-type forms
Your state's adult protective services reporting steps
Your EMR's psychosocial assessment and visit note
Local senior living options and their waiting lists
Social workers chart in the EMR and keep a local resource list: Medicaid waiver contacts, the Area Agency on Aging, meal programs, utility help and senior housing. A phone with secure messaging gets more use in this job than any clinical kit.
Home health medical social worker interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Social work volume can be small, so look at a full quarter before you judge a trend. Pick targets from your own agency's history.
Social work referrals seen within policy
Days from each social work order to the first visit, from the EMR. Report misses by branch, since one social worker may cover the whole service area.
Community resource referrals completed
Referrals the social worker started that reached an outcome, such as approved meals, a Medicaid decision or a placement, divided by all started. Note the ones stuck at another agency.
Psychosocial assessments completed on time
First-visit psychosocial assessments finished and signed within your policy window, divided by all first visits. Audit a sample for living situation, supports, money and safety.
Social work notes finished within policy
Notes signed within the policy window, divided by all social work visits. Each month, read a handful to confirm each note says how the visit relates to treatment or recovery.
Career path
Hospital or skilled nursing facility social workerLearns discharge planning, Medicaid basics and family meetings.
Medical Social WorkerVisits patients at home and connects families to help.
Licensed clinical social workerAdds the supervised clinical hours the state board requires for clinical licensure.
AdministratorMoves into leading the agency after supervisory experience in home health.
Medicare's staff rule asks for a master's or doctoral degree from a school of social work accredited by CSWE, plus a year of social work in a health care setting. It doesn't name a license. State law does. ASWB reports that every state and DC licenses clinical social work, and most states, but not all, license the master's level. Check your state board's rules for the work this job does.
How much does a home health medical social worker make?
Healthcare social workers who work for home health care agencies earned a median of $33.98 an hour ($70,680 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $60,580 and $80,830 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Can a social work assistant cover some visits?
Yes, with supervision. Medicare covers visits by a qualified social work assistant who works under a qualified social worker. The assistant needs a bachelor's degree in social work, psychology, sociology or a related field. They also need a year of social work in a health care setting. Check your state's rules on bachelor's-level practice before you hire one.
How does a social worker get added to a home health case?
Most often a nurse or therapist spots the problem first. Supplies go missing, a patient can't afford medicine, or a caregiver can't cope. The agency then asks the patient's physician or allowed practitioner to add social work to the plan of care. Teach your clinicians what to flag, since Medicare won't cover the visit until the order is in.
Does the social worker handle advance directives?
The agency has to give patients written information on advance directives before care starts, and that is usually part of admission. The social worker often comes in later. They help a patient think through choices and complete an advance directive, such as a living will, then share those wishes with the care team.
