Care Coordinator Job Description Templates for Home Care and Small Clinics
6 free templates for the agencies and practices that hire without an HR department: home care, small clinic, RN, behavioral health, community, and after-hours on-call. Download as DOCX.
Most care coordinator job descriptions online were written for a hospital system. They assume a clinical supervisor down the hall, a separate scheduling department, a compliance team, and a caseload someone else already sized. If you run a home care agency or a two-provider clinic, none of that describes your situation, and copying that posting sets expectations you cannot meet in week one.
The gap matters because this is the hire that holds a small agency together. The coordinator is the person families call, the person caregivers call, and the person who knows which client cannot be left without coverage on a Sunday. Get the posting wrong and you spend the next quarter hiring for the same seat again.
At FirstHR we build hiring templates for owners who do this without an HR department. The six below cover a home care agency caseload, a small clinic panel, a licensed RN coordinator, behavioral health, community and nonprofit work, and the after-hours on-call seat that almost nobody writes down properly.
TL;DR
A care coordinator owns a caseload: the schedule, the care plan, the referrals, and the documentation behind them. Most versions of the role are non-exempt and paid hourly. The posting has to state the setting, the caseload size, the contact frequency, the on-call policy, and the license requirement. Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
What a Care Coordinator Owns
A care coordinator owns a defined caseload and everything that touches it: the schedule, the care plan, the referrals, the follow-up, and the documentation. The job is not a queue of tasks handed down by someone else. It is a book of clients or patients that belongs to one person, which is why the caseload number is the first thing any serious candidate asks about.
The title lands on four very different jobs, and the differences are not cosmetic. They change the pay, the required credential, the daily rhythm, and whether the person spends the day on a phone, in an EHR, or in a car.
Home Care Agency
Schedule, caregivers, families
The caseload is clients in their own homes and the caregivers assigned to them. The day is scheduling, call-offs, supervisory visits, and family calls. Hourly, on-call rotation, high interruption.
Small Clinic or Practice
Panel, outreach, care plans
The caseload is a panel of patients with chronic conditions. The day is monthly outreach, care plan upkeep, referral tracking, and gap closure inside the EHR. Hourly, desk-based, documentation heavy.
Clinical (RN) Coordination
Assessment and triage
Same panel logic, but the coordinator assesses, teaches, and triages under a license. Pay and classification change with it, and the posting has to state the license requirement plainly.
Community or Nonprofit
Barriers, benefits, referrals
The caseload is participants with health-related social needs. The day is screening, warm referrals, benefits paperwork, and community visits, often against a grant reporting calendar.
Write the Setting Into the First Line
A candidate who has coordinated home care shifts and a candidate who has run a chronic care panel are both real care coordinators, and neither is interchangeable with the other. Name the setting in the first sentence of the posting. It costs you nothing, it filters out half the mismatched applications before they arrive, and it tells the right person that you understand the job well enough to describe it.
Coordinator, Case Manager, or Scheduler
The practical difference is who builds the plan and who executes it. A care coordinator executes and keeps a plan moving. A case manager, usually licensed or certified, assesses need and builds or authorizes the plan itself. A scheduler owns the calendar and nothing beyond it.
Small agencies blur all three, often into one seat, and there is nothing wrong with that as long as the posting describes the actual duties instead of leaning on the label. The table below is the disambiguation candidates are doing in their heads anyway.
Title
Who builds the plan
Typical credential
Use this posting when
Care coordinator
Someone else; the coordinator executes and updates
High school diploma to associate degree; CNA, HHA, or MA background common
You need one owner for a caseload across schedule, plan, and follow-up
Patient coordinator
Provider builds it; coordinator runs the front-office side
Front-office or medical administrative background
The role is clinic-facing: scheduling, intake, insurance, and patient calls
Case manager
The case manager assesses and builds it
License or case management certification, often required
The role carries authority over the plan and the service authorization
RN care coordinator
The nurse assesses and builds it under a license
Active RN license
The role includes assessment, patient teaching, or symptom triage
Scheduler or staffing coordinator
Not applicable; the schedule is the job
Scheduling or dispatch experience
You need coverage filled and nothing beyond the calendar
A caseload number is meaningless without the contact frequency next to it, and every experienced coordinator knows it. Forty clients contacted monthly and forty clients contacted twice a week are different jobs by an order of magnitude, and a posting that gives one number without the other reads as a place that has not done the arithmetic.
Four variables set the real number. Write all four into your thinking before you write one into the posting.
Contact frequency
A panel contacted monthly and a caseload contacted twice a week are not the same job, and no caseload number means anything until you state the interval. Write the required touch frequency into the posting next to the caseload size. Candidates who have done the work will do the arithmetic in their heads before they apply, and the ones who do not ask are usually the ones who leave in the first quarter.
Documentation load
Every contact produces a note, and in care management that note is often the billing record too. Assume a real minute cost per contact rather than pretending documentation happens in the gaps. If your coordinator writes in two systems because the scheduling tool and the clinical record do not talk to each other, count that twice and say so in the interview instead of letting the new hire discover it in week two.
Interruption rate
Home care coordination is interrupt-driven by design: a caregiver calls off at six in the morning and the whole plan for the day changes. A clinic panel is far more predictable. The same headline caseload is comfortable in one setting and impossible in the other, so describe the interruption pattern honestly and set the on-call expectation in writing before anyone accepts.
Acuity and supervision
Clients with complex conditions, unstable housing, or frequent hospital use consume several times the coordination of a stable client on a fixed weekly schedule. So does supervising a field team spread across a wide service area. Segment the caseload by acuity when you set the number, and revisit it whenever the mix shifts rather than once a year at budget time.
The clinic side has a useful anchor. Medicare chronic care management is billable when at least twenty minutes of non-face-to-face clinical staff time is spent in a calendar month for a patient with two or more chronic conditions, so the arithmetic is direct: a hundred enrolled patients is a minimum of roughly thirty-three hours a month of documented coordination time before a single unplanned call. That is most of a week, and it is a floor rather than a target.
What Belongs in the Posting
A care coordinator posting does four jobs at once: it sells the role, it filters mismatched applicants, it protects you legally, and it closes the candidate. Most small-agency postings do only the first, which is why they generate volume and not fit.
The parts candidates read first
Setting: home care, clinic, behavioral health, or community
Caseload size and the required contact frequency
Whether the role is clinical or non-clinical
Hours, on-call rotation, and travel expectations
The parts that filter applicants
License or certification, marked required or preferred
Systems the coordinator will live in every day
Driving, home visits, and vehicle requirements
Background check and registry screening notice
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification stated on the posting
On-call pay policy written out, not implied
Essential functions in plain language
Equal opportunity statement
The parts that win the hire
Hourly rate or a good-faith range
Who the coordinator reports to and works alongside
What support exists after hours
A named person and a real deadline to apply
The most common omission is the on-call expectation. Candidates assume the worst when it is left unstated, and the ones who would have been fine with a light rotation self-select out. Our guide to writing a job description covers the general structure in more depth.
6 Care Coordinator Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: organization overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you need to change.
Download All 6 Care Coordinator Job Description Templates
Home care agency, small clinic, RN, behavioral health, community and nonprofit, and after-hours on-call. All in one download.
Home Care Agency
Schedule plus caseload
The full agency role: caseload ownership, weekly schedule, caregiver matching, supervisory visits, and on-call rotation.
Clinic (Small Practice)
Panel and care plans
For a primary care or specialty practice running care management: enrollment, monthly outreach, care plan upkeep, referral tracking.
RN Care Coordinator
Clinical, licensed
For a licensed nurse carrying a high-risk panel: assessment, triage under protocol, education, and post-discharge follow-up.
Behavioral Health
Engagement between sessions
For outpatient behavioral health and integrated care, with the stricter confidentiality rules for substance use records called out.
Community or Nonprofit
Barriers and referrals
For a nonprofit or health center: social needs screening, warm referrals, benefits support, and grant reporting.
After-Hours On-Call
Evenings and weekends
For the coverage window: call-offs, escalation, handoffs, and an on-call pay policy written out rather than assumed.
Template 1: Home Care Agency Care Coordinator
The full agency role: caseload ownership, the weekly schedule, caregiver matching, supervisory visits, and the on-call rotation. Pair it with the caregiver templates when you staff the field team at the same time.
Home Care Agency Care Coordinator Job Description
HOME CARE AGENCY CARE COORDINATOR JOB DESCRIPTION
Agency: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Administrator / Director of Operations / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time, on-site with [rotating on-call]
FLSA status: Non-exempt (hourly, overtime-eligible; see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per hour
Caseload: approximately [number] active clients across [service area]
ABOUT [AGENCY NAME]
[Agency Name] is a [non-medical home care / home health] agency serving
[county or metro area]. We staff [companion care, personal care, respite, and
live-in] shifts for clients in their own homes. We are hiring a Care Coordinator
to own a defined caseload end to end: the schedule, the caregiver match, the
client relationship, and the documentation behind both.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Care Coordinator manages a caseload of home care clients from intake through
ongoing service. You build and maintain the weekly schedule, match caregivers to
client needs and personalities, fill call-offs, keep the care plan current, and
serve as the first call for families, caregivers, and referral partners.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own a caseload of approximately [number] active clients in [service area]
•Build and publish the weekly schedule; fill call-offs and open shifts
•Match caregivers to clients by skill, certification, location, and fit
•Complete or coordinate client intakes and re-assessments on schedule
•Keep the service plan and task list current in [scheduling system]
•Conduct supervisory visits and quality calls at the required interval
•Document every client and caregiver contact the same day it happens
•Escalate changes in condition to the [RN / clinical supervisor] immediately
•Coach field caregivers on punctuality, documentation, and visit compliance
•Support caregiver retention: check-ins, recognition, and fast issue resolution
•Maintain relationships with referral sources: discharge planners, case
managers, social workers, and community partners
•Take part in the on-call rotation [frequency and compensation]
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[High school diploma / associate degree] required; [CNA, HHA, or LPN
background preferred]
•[Number] years in home care, home health, hospice, or a comparable
scheduling and client-facing role
•Comfortable working a live schedule under interruption
•Clear written documentation habits
•Valid driver license, reliable vehicle, and current auto insurance
•Must clear the criminal background check and registry screening required by
[state] for home care agency staff
•[Bilingual in ______ preferred]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
Most home care Care Coordinator roles are non-exempt: the primary duty is
running a schedule and executing a care plan under established procedures rather
than exercising discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance,
which is what the federal administrative exemption requires. Paying the role
hourly is the honest and safer answer, and it makes on-call and overtime
straightforward. If the coordinator genuinely runs the branch and directs other
staff, review the executive exemption on the duties, not on the title. Home care
agencies carry state licensure, background check, registry, and supervisory
visit requirements that vary by state. Confirm yours with the state agency that
licenses home care. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Agency Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [on-call differential], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 2: Clinic Care Coordinator (Small Practice)
For a primary care or specialty practice running care management: enrollment, monthly outreach, care plan upkeep, referral tracking, and time documentation that holds up.
Clinic Care Coordinator Job Description (Small Practice)
CLINIC CARE COORDINATOR JOB DESCRIPTION (SMALL PRACTICE)
Practice: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Practice Manager / Physician Owner]
Employment type: Full-time, on-site [hybrid after training]
FLSA status: Non-exempt (hourly, overtime-eligible; see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per hour
Panel: approximately [number] patients enrolled in care management
ABOUT [PRACTICE NAME]
[Practice Name] is a [primary care / internal medicine / specialty] practice in
[City, State] with [number] providers. We are hiring a Care Coordinator to run
our care management panel: enrollment, monthly outreach, care plan upkeep, and
the documentation that supports both good care and clean billing.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Care Coordinator manages a panel of patients with chronic conditions,
completes monthly outreach, keeps the comprehensive care plan current, closes
gaps in care, and coordinates referrals, transitions, and community resources
under the direction of the treating provider.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Enroll eligible patients in care management and document consent
•Complete monthly non-face-to-face outreach and log time to the minute
•Maintain a comprehensive, patient-centered care plan in [EHR]
•Track referrals from order to completed consult note
•Coordinate transitions of care after a hospital or ED discharge
•Close gaps in preventive and chronic care on the practice registry
•Connect patients to transportation, pharmacy assistance, and community
resources; document every referral and outcome
•Prepare the daily huddle list and flag rising-risk patients to the provider
•Answer the care management phone line within [target] and document each call
•Support prior authorizations and coverage questions with [billing]
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[High school diploma / associate degree]; [MA, LPN, or CHW certification
preferred]
•[Number] years in a clinic, health plan, or community health setting
•Comfortable in an EHR and confident on the phone with patients
•Accurate time documentation habits (care management billing depends on it)
•HIPAA training completed or willing to complete before patient contact
•Must clear the background check required by [practice policy / state]
•[Bilingual in ______ preferred]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Clinic care coordinators are almost always non-exempt and paid hourly. The role
executes a defined care management workflow rather than setting policy, so it
generally does not meet the federal administrative exemption. The practice is a
HIPAA covered entity, so train this hire on your privacy and security policies
before the first patient contact and document the training. Where the role
supports billable care management, time logs are part of the medical record and
must be contemporaneous. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Practice Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Still Using Spreadsheets for Onboarding?
Automate documents, training assignments, task management, and track onboarding progress in real time.
For a licensed nurse carrying a high-risk panel, with assessment, triage under protocol, education, and post-discharge follow-up written in, plus the classification note that comes with a license.
RN Care Coordinator Job Description (Chronic Care)
RN CARE COORDINATOR JOB DESCRIPTION (CHRONIC CARE)
Organization: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Medical Director / Director of Nursing / Practice Manager]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: [Exempt or non-exempt: decide on duties and pay basis; see note]
Compensation: $_ per year or $_ per hour
Panel: approximately [number] high-risk patients
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Organization] is hiring a Registered Nurse Care Coordinator to manage a panel
of high-risk and chronically ill patients. This is a clinical coordination role:
you assess, teach, triage, and build the plan, and you carry the panel rather
than a shift.
POSITION SUMMARY
The RN Care Coordinator assesses patients, develops and revises the plan of
care, provides disease-specific education, triages symptom calls under standing
protocols, and coordinates the clinical team, the family, and outside providers
around a single plan.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Assess assigned patients and develop an individualized plan of care
•Provide condition-specific education to patients and caregivers
•Triage incoming clinical calls under approved protocols and document
•Review medications for adherence and reconcile after every transition
•Lead post-discharge follow-up within [timeframe] of every hospitalization
•Direct non-clinical coordinators on tasks within their scope
•Track panel outcomes: readmissions, ED visits, control measures
•Participate in case review with the provider team [frequency]
•Maintain accurate, timely clinical documentation in [EHR]
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Active, unencumbered RN license in [state] (or compact privilege)
•[Number] years of clinical experience; [case management, home health, or
chronic care preferred]
•[Certification in case management preferred]
•Current BLS certification
•Strong assessment, triage, and patient education skills
•Must clear the background check and license verification required by [state]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Registered nurses can qualify for the learned professional exemption when they
are paid on a salary basis at or above the federal weekly salary level. An RN
paid hourly is non-exempt and overtime-eligible regardless of duties, and many
organizations deliberately keep the role hourly. Licensed practical nurses
generally do not qualify for the learned professional exemption, because a
specialized advanced academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for entry
into the occupation. Verify
the license through your state board before the start date and again at each
renewal. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ [per year or per hour], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 4: Behavioral Health Care Coordinator
For outpatient behavioral health and integrated care, with engagement between sessions, crisis escalation, and the stricter confidentiality rules for substance use records called out.
Behavioral Health Care Coordinator Job Description
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE COORDINATOR JOB DESCRIPTION
[Organization] is a [behavioral health / substance use / integrated primary
care] practice in [City, State]. We are hiring a Care Coordinator to keep
clients connected between sessions: appointments kept, medications filled,
benefits active, and the treatment team talking to each other.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Behavioral Health Care Coordinator manages a caseload of clients receiving
outpatient behavioral health services, tracks engagement and follow-up, connects
clients to housing, benefits, and community services, and supports the clinical
team with measurement-based follow-up.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Carry a caseload of approximately [number] active clients
•Complete outreach after intake, after a missed session, and after discharge
•Administer and track [screening tools] at the required interval
•Coordinate psychiatric appointments, labs, and medication refills
•Connect clients to housing, benefits, transportation, and peer support
•Maintain accurate, same-day documentation in [EHR]
•Participate in weekly case review with the clinical team
•Follow crisis protocols and escalate to a licensed clinician immediately
•Support release-of-information requests and coordinate with outside providers
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[High school diploma / bachelor degree in social work, psychology, or a
related field]
•[Number] years in behavioral health, social services, or community health
•[Peer support, CHW, or community health certification a plus]
•Comfort with people in crisis and clear boundaries about scope
•Understanding of confidentiality rules that apply to behavioral health and
substance use records, which are stricter than general health privacy rules
•Must clear the background check and registry screening required by [state]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
This role is non-exempt and overtime-eligible. Substance use disorder treatment
records carry a separate federal confidentiality rule on top of HIPAA, with its
own consent and re-disclosure requirements, so train on both before the first
client contact. State licensure or certification may apply to the program even
where it does not apply to the individual coordinator. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 5: Community Care Coordinator (Nonprofit or FQHC)
For a nonprofit or health center: social needs screening, warm referrals, benefits support, community visits, and grant reporting. If your version is intake-heavy, the intake coordinator templates are a closer fit.
Community Care Coordinator Job Description (Nonprofit or FQHC)
COMMUNITY CARE COORDINATOR JOB DESCRIPTION (NONPROFIT OR FQHC)
Organization: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Program Director / Care Management Supervisor]
Employment type: Full-time, [grant-funded through ______]
[Organization Name] serves [population] in [service area]. We are hiring a
Community Care Coordinator to work with participants where they are: in clinic,
at home, and in the community. The role removes the practical barriers that keep
people from getting care.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Community Care Coordinator manages a caseload of participants, screens for
health-related social needs, connects people to food, housing, transportation,
insurance, and clinical services, and follows every referral through to an
outcome rather than a handoff.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Carry a caseload of approximately [number] participants
•Screen for health-related social needs at enrollment and on schedule
•Build an action plan with each participant and review it [frequency]
•Make warm referrals to partner agencies and confirm the outcome
•Support insurance enrollment, renewals, and sliding-scale applications
•Accompany participants to appointments where the program allows
•Conduct home or community visits following the lone-worker safety policy
•Document every contact and referral in [system] the same day
•Report program metrics required by [funder] on the reporting calendar
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[High school diploma / associate degree]; lived experience in the community
served is valued
•[State community health worker certification required / preferred, if your
state has one]
•[Number] years in community health, outreach, or social services
•[Bilingual in ______ required]
•Valid driver license and reliable transportation for community visits
•Must clear the background check required by [state or funder]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Community care coordinators and community health workers are non-exempt and
overtime-eligible. Travel between community sites during the working day is
generally compensable time, so build it into the schedule and the budget rather
than treating it as unpaid. Where the position is grant-funded, state the funding
period in the offer letter and track effort against the grant. Some states now
certify community health workers and reimburse their services under Medicaid.
Confirm your state rules. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [benefits summary], [grant period]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 6: After-Hours On-Call Care Coordinator
For the coverage window nobody writes down: call-offs, escalation, handoffs, and an on-call pay policy stated in the posting instead of assumed. For pure calendar coverage, see the scheduling coordinator templates.
After-Hours On-Call Care Coordinator Job Description
AFTER-HOURS ON-CALL CARE COORDINATOR JOB DESCRIPTION
Agency: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Administrator / Director of Operations]
FLSA status: Non-exempt (hourly, overtime-eligible; read the on-call note)
Compensation: $_ per hour plus $_ per on-call shift
Coverage window: [days and hours]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Agency Name] covers clients [evenings, overnights, and weekends], and the phone
does not stop when the office closes. We are hiring an After-Hours Care
Coordinator to own the coverage window: call-offs, client questions, caregiver
issues, and clean handoffs back to the day team.
POSITION SUMMARY
The After-Hours Care Coordinator answers the on-call line during the assigned
window, fills open shifts, triages non-clinical issues, escalates clinical
concerns to the [RN on call], and documents everything for the morning handoff.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Answer the on-call line within [target] during the coverage window
•Fill call-offs and open shifts using the approved caregiver list
•Confirm arrivals and resolve missed or late visits
•Triage non-clinical client and family concerns; escalate clinical concerns to
the [RN on call] immediately under the escalation policy
•Log every call, action, and outcome in [system]
•Deliver a written handoff to the day team at the end of each window
•Follow the emergency and severe weather procedures
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] year of scheduling, dispatch, or care coordination experience
•Reliable internet, a quiet place to work, and consistent availability
•Calm under pressure and comfortable making decisions alone
•Accurate documentation under time pressure
•Must clear the background check required by [state]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read this one carefully)
On-call pay is where small agencies get into trouble. Under federal wage rules,
whether on-call time counts as hours worked depends on how restricted the
employee is: an employee who must stay on the premises or who cannot use the
time effectively for personal purposes is generally working the whole time, and
an employee who simply carries a phone with a reasonable response window is
generally paid only for calls actually handled, plus any agreed on-call stipend.
Write the policy down, state the response time expectation in the posting, pay
for all time actually worked, and count on-call stipends correctly when you
calculate the overtime rate. Several states have stricter reporting-time and
on-call rules. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Agency Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour plus $_ per on-call shift
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Overtime, On-Call, and Privacy
Most care coordinators are non-exempt and overtime-eligible. The role executes established procedures rather than exercising discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance, and it is usually paid hourly, so the federal administrative exemption does not fit.
The federal salary level for the white-collar exemptions is $684 a week. The Department of Labor rule that would have raised it was vacated by a federal court in November 2024 and formally rescinded effective May 15, 2026, restoring the earlier thresholds. The duties side of the test is set out in the Department of Labor fact sheet on the administrative exemption, and our breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt classification works through it in plain language.
The administrative exemption usually does not fit
The federal administrative exemption requires office or non-manual work directly related to management or general business operations, plus a primary duty that includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance, on a salary at or above the federal weekly level. A coordinator who fills shifts from an approved caregiver list, follows an escalation policy, and executes a care plan written by someone else is applying established procedures, which the regulation specifically distinguishes from independent judgment. Add that most coordinators are paid hourly, which defeats the salary basis on its own, and the honest answer for the large majority of these roles is non-exempt. This is general information, not legal advice.
On-call time is the expensive mistake
Whether on-call hours count as hours worked turns on how restricted the employee is. Someone required to remain on the premises, or so tightly constrained that the time cannot be used effectively for personal purposes, is generally working the entire period. Someone who carries a phone with a reasonable response window is generally paid for the calls actually handled plus whatever stipend you agreed to. The failure mode at small agencies is never the policy, it is the absence of one: no written expectation, no record of calls taken at eleven at night, and a stipend that quietly gets left out of the overtime rate calculation. Write it down, track it, and include the stipend when you compute overtime.
Privacy training happens before the first contact
If your agency or practice is a HIPAA covered entity, the Privacy Rule requires you to train every member of the workforce on your policies and procedures for protected health information as necessary and appropriate for that person to do the job, and to train new workforce members within a reasonable period after they join. A care coordinator touches protected health information from the first phone call, so reasonable here means before patient or client contact, not at the end of the first month. Document the date, keep the acknowledgment, and repeat the training when your policies change materially. Behavioral health and substance use programs carry an additional federal confidentiality rule on top of this one.
Background checks and registries are state-specific
Most states license home care and home health agencies, and most require criminal history checks plus screening against abuse, neglect, and exclusion registries for staff with client contact, sometimes including office staff who handle client information. Timing rules vary: some states require clearance before any client contact, others allow provisional employment with supervision while results are pending. Clinics sit under different rules but often carry their own credentialing and exclusion screening obligations. Check the requirement with the state agency that licenses your setting, write it into the posting so candidates plan for it, and store the clearances with their expiration dates rather than in a folder.
Anyone non-exempt needs hours tracked and overtime paid past forty in a week, and an on-call stipend has to be folded into the regular rate before you calculate it. On the privacy side, the federal regulation on administrative requirements for covered entities requires training every workforce member on your protected health information policies as necessary and appropriate for the job, and training new workforce members within a reasonable period after they join. For a coordinator, that means before the first client call.
Clearance and Training Come Before Client Contact
The expensive mistake at small agencies is starting a coordinator on the phones while the background check is pending because the schedule is falling apart. State licensure rules for home care are strict about client contact, registry screening timing varies by state, and a lapse is exactly what a survey or an incident review finds. Build the clearance and training timeline backward from the start date and hold it. Our guide to running a background check covers the process and the notice requirements.
What to Pay a Care Coordinator
There is no federal occupation code called care coordinator, so pay has to be benchmarked against the occupation your version of the role most resembles. That choice matters more than any local adjustment: the gap between a non-clinical coordinator benchmark and a registered nurse benchmark is roughly double.
National Medians for the Benchmark Occupations
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), median hourly wages were $24.93 for community health workers, $22.08 for social and human service assistants, $21.97 for medical assistants, $32.63 for healthcare social workers, and $46.90 for registered nurses. Home health and personal care aides, the field staff a home care coordinator supervises, had a median of $17.21 an hour across 4,305,810 jobs (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates).
Benchmark occupation
Median hourly (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
At 2,080 hours
Use it when
Community health workers
$24.93
About $51,900
Community, nonprofit, or health center coordination
Social and human service assistants
$22.08
About $45,900
Behavioral health or social services caseload
Medical secretaries and administrative assistants
$22.08
About $45,900
Clinic-facing coordination and front-office overlap
Medical assistants
$21.97
About $45,700
Clinic coordinator hired out of an MA background
Medical records specialists
$24.59
About $51,100
Documentation-heavy coordination inside an EHR
Healthcare social workers
$32.63
About $67,900
Complex caseload with a social work credential
Licensed practical and vocational nurses
$30.96
About $64,400
Licensed but non-RN clinical coordination
Registered nurses
$46.90
About $97,600
Assessment, triage, and education under an RN license
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers
$33.41
About $69,500
Lead coordinator who directs other coordinators
Two adjustments matter beyond the benchmark. Bilingual ability is a genuine premium in home care and community work, and an on-call rotation deserves a stated differential rather than goodwill. Publish a good-faith range where pay transparency laws apply, and remember that the coordinator sits above a field workforce the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects to grow 17 percent from 2024 to 2034, with about 765,800 openings a year, so the competitive pressure is not going to ease.
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In a clinic, care coordination can be a billable service rather than pure overhead, and that changes how the role should be written. Medicare pays separately for care management performed by clinical staff under a physician or other qualified professional, which means the coordinator can carry revenue as well as cost.
Chronic care management is the clearest example. Practitioners may bill for a calendar month when at least twenty minutes of non-face-to-face clinical staff time is spent coordinating care for a patient with two or more chronic conditions expected to last at least twelve months or until death, where those conditions put the patient at significant risk. The requirements include documented patient consent, an initiating visit for new patients and for patients not seen in the previous year, and a comprehensive care plan established, implemented, revised, or monitored.
Write the Documentation Duty Into the Job Description
Where coordination is billable, the time log is not administrative overhead, it is the substantiation. A posting that treats documentation as an afterthought produces a hire who batches notes on Friday, which is both a compliance problem and a revenue problem. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publishes the current requirements and fact sheets on its care management page, including chronic care management, behavioral health integration, and transitional care management. Read the one that matches your practice before you write the responsibilities section.
Hiring a Care Coordinator Without an HR Department
Small-agency hiring fails in three predictable places: the posting is copied from a hospital job, the process is slower than the competition, and the compliance paperwork arrives in a pile on day one. Each has a fix that costs nothing but discipline.
The owner is the scheduler, the recruiter, and the HR department at the same time
At a small home care agency or a two-provider clinic, the person writing the care coordinator posting is usually the owner, working between a client complaint and a payroll deadline. There is no HR office to hand it to, so the posting either gets written properly or it gets copied from a hospital system job that describes a role with a clinical supervisor, a dedicated scheduler, and a compliance team behind it. Candidates read that and arrive expecting support you do not have. The fix is a fixed structure you reuse: the setting, the caseload, the contact frequency, the on-call expectation, and the pay, with only the agency-specific parts rewritten each time.
You are hiring from the same pool as every other agency in the county
Coordination talent is scarce and mobile, and the strongest candidates usually come out of home care, hospice, or a clinic front office where they already ran a caseload. You will not win on base pay against a hospital system, so compete on what a small employer actually controls: a caseload number you will honor, a real on-call rotation with real pay, a schedule that does not change every week, and a decision inside a few days instead of a month. Say those things in the posting rather than saving them for the second interview, and move fast, because speed is one of the few advantages a small employer can spend freely.
The compliance paperwork arrives in a pile on the first day and lives in a drawer
A care coordinator start means signed policies, privacy training with a dated acknowledgment, background check and registry clearances, driver license and auto insurance copies with renewal dates, system access, and an escalation policy the new hire has actually read. Miss one and it surfaces during a survey or after an incident, which is the worst possible time. FirstHR was built for exactly this: the onboarding wizard runs the same sequence for every hire, e-signature handles the policy acknowledgments, document management stores clearances and insurance copies against the employee profile with renewal dates attached, and training modules cover privacy and escalation before the first client call. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Once the offer is signed, the work shifts to a repeatable onboarding checklist. For a coordinator specifically, the first week should end with privacy training acknowledged, clearances on file with renewal dates, system access granted at the right permission level, and the escalation policy signed. If you are also staffing the field team, the home health aide templates run on the same sequence.
Key Takeaways
A care coordinator owns a caseload end to end: the schedule, the care plan, the referrals, the follow-up, and the documentation behind all four.
Caseload size means nothing without the required contact frequency next to it, and both belong in the posting rather than in the second interview.
Most care coordinator roles are non-exempt and paid hourly, because executing established procedures is not the discretion and independent judgment the administrative exemption requires at the $684 weekly salary level.
On-call is the most common compliance failure: write the response expectation and the stipend into a policy, track calls actually handled, and fold the stipend into the regular rate for overtime.
Benchmark pay against the federal occupation your version resembles, from a median of $24.93 an hour for community health workers to $46.90 for registered nurses (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
In a clinic the role can be billable rather than pure overhead, which makes contemporaneous time documentation a job requirement and not a nice-to-have.
A care coordinator start means policies signed, privacy training acknowledged, clearances filed, and system access granted before the first client call. FirstHR runs that sequence the same way every time, with e-signature for acknowledgments, document storage for clearances and license copies, and renewal dates tracked so nothing expires quietly. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a care coordinator do?
A care coordinator owns a caseload of clients or patients and keeps everything around them connected: the schedule, the care plan, the referrals, the documentation, and the people. In a home care agency that means building the weekly schedule, matching caregivers to clients, filling call-offs, running supervisory visits, and being the first call for families. In a small clinic it means enrolling patients into care management, completing monthly outreach, keeping a comprehensive care plan current, tracking referrals from order to consult note, and following up after every hospital discharge. The common thread is ownership of a defined panel rather than a queue of tasks. The role is coordination, not treatment, unless the coordinator holds a clinical license, in which case assessment, education, and triage under protocol come with it.
What should a care coordinator job description include?
Seven things, and most postings miss at least three. State the setting, because home care, clinic, behavioral health, and community coordination are different jobs. State the caseload size and the required contact frequency together, because neither number means anything alone. Say whether the role is clinical or non-clinical and mark any license or certification as required or preferred. Name the systems the coordinator will live in every day. Spell out hours, travel, and the on-call rotation with its pay. State the FLSA classification and the background check requirement. Then publish the hourly rate or a good-faith range. Add the equal opportunity statement, name a real person to apply to, and give a deadline. The six templates on this page follow that structure so only the agency-specific parts change.
Is a care coordinator exempt from overtime?
Usually no. Most care coordinator roles are non-exempt and overtime-eligible. The federal administrative exemption requires a primary duty of office work directly related to management or general business operations that includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance, paid on a salary basis at or above the federal weekly salary level of $684. A coordinator who fills shifts from an approved list, follows a written escalation policy, and executes a care plan built by someone else is applying established procedures, which the regulation treats as different from independent judgment. Most coordinators are also paid hourly, which defeats the salary basis test by itself. A registered nurse coordinator paid on a qualifying salary can fall under the learned professional exemption; an LPN generally cannot, because an advanced academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for that occupation. Classify on the actual duties and the pay basis, never on the title. This is general information, not legal advice.
How much does a care coordinator make?
There is no single federal occupation code called care coordinator, so benchmark against the occupation your version of the role most resembles. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), median hourly wages were $24.93 for community health workers, $22.08 for social and human service assistants, $22.08 for medical secretaries and administrative assistants, $21.97 for medical assistants, $32.63 for healthcare social workers, $30.96 for licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, and $46.90 for registered nurses. At 2,080 hours those work out to roughly $51,900, $45,900, $45,900, $45,700, $67,900, $64,400, and $97,600 a year. Non-clinical coordinators at small agencies typically sit in the first group, clinical coordinators in the last. Adjust for your local market, add a differential for bilingual ability and on-call coverage, and publish a good-faith range where your state requires it.
What is the difference between a care coordinator and a case manager?
Scope and authority, mostly. A care coordinator keeps the plan moving: appointments, schedules, referrals, follow-up calls, and documentation for a defined caseload. A case manager typically holds a license or a certification, assesses need, authorizes or arranges services, and carries more independent decision authority over the plan itself. In practice the titles blur, and small agencies often use them interchangeably, which is exactly why your posting has to describe the duties rather than lean on the label. The practical test: if the person builds and revises the plan of care using clinical judgment, you are hiring a case manager or a nurse care coordinator and the license belongs in the requirements. If the person executes a plan that someone else built, you are hiring a care coordinator and the posting should say so honestly.
Do you need a nursing license to be a care coordinator?
No, not for most versions of the role. Non-clinical care coordinators in home care agencies, clinics, behavioral health practices, and community organizations generally enter with a high school diploma or an associate degree, and many come from a CNA, home health aide, medical assistant, or front-office background. What matters more is scheduling judgment, documentation discipline, and the ability to hold a difficult conversation with a family. A license becomes necessary when the role includes assessment, patient teaching, or symptom triage: those duties belong to a registered nurse, and the posting has to say so. Some states certify community health workers and reimburse their services under Medicaid, which can make certification a practical requirement even where it is not a legal one. Check your state before you write the requirement.
How do I hire a care coordinator for a small home care agency?
Run a fixed sequence and be specific earlier than feels comfortable. Post the setting, the caseload size, the contact frequency, the on-call rotation with its pay, and the hourly rate, because vagueness on any of those is what produces a bad hire and a resignation in the first quarter. Screen for scheduling judgment with a real scenario: two caregivers call off at six in the morning, one client has a fall risk, describe your next hour. Check references from someone who watched the candidate run a caseload, not a supervisor who only saw the resume. Move fast, because coordination talent is mobile. Then run onboarding as a checklist: signed policies, privacy training with a dated acknowledgment, background check and registry clearances, insurance and license copies with renewal dates, system access, and the escalation policy read and signed. FirstHR handles that sequence with e-signature, document management, and renewal tracking. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
