What’s a Care Manager Floater?

This is a question I’m repeatedly asked. Since January 2013, I’ve been working as a care manager. During my second maternity leave, our family decided to move from the north side to the south side of Indianapolis. My first concern was how I was going to handle my north side caseload? While I was on leave, I discovered an opening for a floater position, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try something new.

As a floater care manager, I help manage the clients of care managers who go on leave, change positions, or leave their position all together until another ongoing care manager is assigned. The process can take weeks or months, and the clients could be anywhere in our service area. Since the clients are scattered, I have to be prepared to drive anywhere.

Often I’m assigned 10, 15 or sometimes even 20 clients all at once. I could potentially start a week at seeing 50 clients and end the week with 70. However, sometimes it’s difficult to prioritize the clients since some of their visits are due or even overdue.

Although it sounds like an overwhelming job, there are many positive aspects to this position. For example, when a care manager hasn’t been assigned to a client for quite some time, they have several requests.  As a floater, I’m able to go into a visit and help solve any problems the client may have. It feels so rewarding to help provide clients with equipment or home modifications they’ve desperately needed.

Since my caseload is constantly changing, it also allows me to meet a large variety of clients we serve. Not only do I get to see our great city, but I also get to travel around the beautiful countryside in the outlying counties. Not to mention I can go just about anywhere in Indianapolis now without using my GPS!

I feel incredibly blessed to be in this unique position. The great thing about working at such a tremendous organization is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a care manager, a supervisor, a care manager assistant, a trainer, a floater, or in any other position. We’re all capable of making a positive impact on the people and community we serve.