Common Case Manager Interview Preparation Guide

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Working with people to help them gain access to quality and cost-effective interventions in their health plans, is something that I look forward to on a daily basis. The satisfaction that comes from knowing that you have helped someone who was unable to help him or herself, is the driving force behind wanting to work as a case manager.

Compassion. It is imperative for a case manager to possess compassion when working with people to be able to understand their situations, and work with them in a positive manner.

Working in case management may also require that you have top communication skills. When helping families or individuals decide what comes next in their health care, case managers often have to discuss plans with medical providers and insurance companies as well as the patient. You can show that your case management style is effective by displaying the ability to communicate difficult information to people. Explain to the hiring manager how you break down complicated medical jargon to families and patients.

Teamwork is an important part of medical care today. Case managers must be able to effectively work with a healthcare team of doctors, specialists and nurses in order to provide the highest quality of care to a patient. Wherever your experience has taken you, an interviewer wants to see that you have what it takes to be able to work well with others in a hospital or managed care setting. Talk to the hiring manager about the times when you have been successful with a group of people. Give examples of what your role looks like in the teamwork approach.

Case management positions are not confined to the normal nine-to-five framework, particularly if you will be a hospital’s patient liaison. In fact, you might need to respond quickly to an unexpected emergency situation. In this profession, being available for weekends or on-call work shows that you are motivated to do whatever it takes to ensure the success of your prospective employment company. However, if you have extenuating circumstances, say so without getting too personal.

As a case manager, your duties go far beyond the typical nine-to-five work schedule, especially if you work as a patient liaison in a hospital. There may be times when you need to explain the options to patients in emergency situations. Your willingness to work weekends and holidays as well as remain only a telephone call away will show your employer that you are ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done. “I understand that weekends and holidays are part of the job description. I know that patient illnesses and injuries do not wait for convenient times to occur, so I will be available as needed at any time” is a phenomenal answer.

One of the first vital case manager interview tips involves your ability to multitask. Case managers in a hospital or medical practice setting are often taking on several different tasks at once. It’s important to show to the interviewer that you have experience working on many projects at the same time. It’s also a good idea to talk about how you have managed to succeed with different things going on in the background. Candidates should give specific examples of their past skills in multitasking. This can show to the hiring manager that you have the right attitude and work ethic for the position.

Although this question may seem like a way to measure your ability, your interviewer is likely looking to gauge your sense of pride in your work by asking. If you have work experience and you can provide such an explanation, then do so—but keep your description relatively short and to the point. “I once helped a gentleman who did not have any health insurance secure the financing he needed to have life-saving surgery” is a great place to start, but be sure to embellish with some details, as well. If you do not yet have work experience, perhaps you can provide some insight by relaying a story you read or an observation you made that touched you.

An interviewer may ask about a candidate's interest in the position of case manager as a good way to evaluate his connection with the organization's cause. The interviewer wants to hear about how the candidate's skills fit with the position. With this question, the interviewer gives the candidate an opportunity to speak from personal experience about the cause of the nonprofit organization, the strength of his skills, and how he can make a difference in the organization.

Initially, this appears to be a question regarding your ability to perform work tasks. Actually, the hiring manager wants to see if you take pride in your work. If you already have some work experience, this is a perfect time to share a relevant anecdote. Otherwise, talk about the difference you plan to make and situations you hope to encounter.

In any line of work, there will come a time when you will likely be faced with an angry or upset client. In most cases, you will have to use your training and expertise to calm this individual and help resolve the underlying issue. If you have had experience in doing this, a brief story would make a fantastic answer. If not, simply provide a scenario followed by the way you would handle it. “If my client was upset because the hospital wanted to perform a treatment that his insurance would not cover, I would do my best to find a middle ground or see if there is any way that the insurance company would pre-approve the procedure if it was deemed medically necessary.”

Reveals more about work history.

As a case manager at a criminal defense firm, I have been the first point of contact for many types of clients, including those accused of heinous crimes. However, no matter what insights my knowledge of the case gives me as to the potential truth of those accusations, my job is to help these people get the best possible access to the representation provided to them by law. Doing the best possible job means establishing good rapport with the client, with tact and sensitivity.

As someone who knows the system inside out, I believe that I am a great choice when it comes to working as case manager at your facility. Excellent knowledge of case management principles, healthcare management and reimbursement, coupled with exceptional communication skills is what I have to offer to you.

Asking how a candidate would run the case manager position is a good way to assess her ability to answer a theoretical question and assess her knowledge of the organization. The interviewer may look for examples from the candidate's past that are relevant to the case manager position. For instance, the candidate may reveal details of her previous responsibilities related with client assessment, developing individual service plans, liaising with associates, fund management and administration.

As a case manager, I am highly aware of my role in maintaining and controlling the information for a given case. This means that access to case information is only given to authorized persons at the law firm. I am also careful never to discuss clients and their circumstances outside the purview of what is necessary in the course of providing legal services, even with my coworkers at the firm. In addition, I keep my personal social life, including social media, completely separate from my professional activities. I do not discuss clients with my friends and family at all. Even disguised or vaguely stated descriptions can be unethical, as they violate the expectation the client has of complete confidentiality in what are often highly sensitive matters.

Tests job knowledge

At one position in my past, the law firm I joined did not have a system in place to ensure that everyone was properly aware of relevant deadlines and court schedules. As a result, there had been some instances of double booking and even a missed court date. In the legal context, these are extremely serious issues that can result in the derailment of a client’s entire case. Therefore, I made it my immediate priority to upgrade the firm’s case management software and ensure that all personnel were trained in its use. This ensured that everyone who needed access to a case’s schedule had it and would be able to avoid scheduling conflicts. The system also created advance reminders that enabled timely meeting of deadlines for document submissions. As a result, the number of scheduling errors decreased substantially, as did the amount of related stress and wasted productivity.

I would give myself a realistic 9. I believe that I can get along well with people from diverse backgrounds, the proof of which is the 100% case management success that I have enjoyed so far.

☛ How long have you been using our product?
☛ How many different people at your company use our product?
☛ Are there multiple departments or teams using our product?
☛ How do you and your team currently use the product? What types of goals or tasks are you using the product to accomplish?
☛ If there are other teams or departments using our product, do you know how they’re using it?
☛ What was the most obvious advantage you felt our product offered during the sales process?
☛ Were there any other advantages you discovered after using the product more regularly?
☛ Are there any metrics or KPIs you track with our product? What are they?
☛ Were you tracking any metrics prior to using our product? What were they?
☛ How has our product impacted your core metrics?

☛ How did you hear about our product?
☛ How long had you been looking for a solution to this problem?
☛ Were you comparing alternative solutions? Which ones?
☛ Would you describe a few of the reasons you decided to buy our product?
☛ What was the criteria you used when making the decision to buy our product?
☛ Were there any high-level initiatives or goals that prompted the decision to buy? For example, was this decision motivated by a company-wide vision?
☛ What was the buying process like? Did you notice anything exceptional or any points of friction?
☛ How would you have changed the buying process, if at all?
☛ Who were the decision makers from your team that were involved in the buying process?

☛ What training or experience has prepared you to excel in this role?
☛ What specific interests or specialties do you have in case management, if any?
☛ Walk us through your typical day at work.
☛ What information do you need to have to create the patient’s health care plan?
☛ How do you manage transitions in a patient’s health care plan?
☛ How much negotiation do you have to do on a day-to-day basis?
☛ How would you rate yourself on providing necessary information to a patient’s entire care team?
☛ Describe a time you worked with members of a patient’s care team to achieve a significantly successful outcome.
☛ Described a time you communicated complex medical information to patient in a way that was easy for them to understand.
☛ How do you work with your patient to evaluate the care they received while in the hospital?
☛ How would you minimize your patient’s time in the hospital?
☛ What is your experience with helping families arrange long-term care for patients?
☛ Recall a time you had to manage conflicting priorities.
☛ In what ways have you demonstrated cultural sensitivity?
☛ What’s stressful about being a case manager?
☛ How do you demonstrate leadership in this position?

☛ Would you give me a quick overview of [company]?
☛ Can you describe your role?
☛ How does your role and team fit into the company and its goals?
☛ How long has your company been in business?
☛ How many employees do you have?
☛ Is your company revenue available? If so, what is it?
☛ Who is your target customer?
☛ How does our product help your team or company achieve its objectives?
☛ How are our companies aligned (mission, strategy, culture, etc.)?
☛ How many people are on your team? What are their roles?

Explains how the candidate approaches new tasks.

The hospital that I was working for assigned me to a 12 year old child who had been admitted for what was at that time considered “bruising due to falling off a bicycle”. While I was interviewing the child, she told me that she had not fallen off a bike – in fact, her step father had battered her. She was scared that she will be sent back home and if her stepfather found out that she had told me, he would beat her again. Since she had told me her predicament, it was my duty to inform the hospital authorities. However, I had to deal with her in a psychological manner (to ensure her that she will be unharmed if I told the authorities) as well which made it difficult to handle both aspects at the same time. It was the most heart-wrenching time of my life.