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Stanford Health Care
Palo Alto, California

Pediatric ED, Complex Care Manager (LCSW) - Social Work / Outpatient

Social WorkerFull-Time

Listed compensation

$60.99-$80.78/hr

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations and weekend coverage.

Posted 1h ago · Verified live

Job Description

If you're ready to be part of our legacy of hope and innovation, we encourage you to take the first step and explore our current job openings. Your best is waiting to be discovered.

Day - 12 Hour (United States of America)

Why work at Stanford Medicine | Stanford Health Care (SHC)?

  • Community; we have a large team of Social Work Clinicians
  • $2K for education funds
  • 5 paid days for training / CEUs
  • Opportunities to be involved in committees, research, a teaching environment
  • Community engagement opportunities
  • SHC Social Workers are recognized as bold leaders, compassionate healers, educators, and mentors
  • We are a team that celebrates, uplifts, and empowers our employees.

Just like the full-time roles, benefits begin the first day of the month following employment eligibility. Our core benefits include medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, an employee assistance program, savings and spending accounts, disability, life and accident insurance, and COBRA.

For medical insurance, you have the choice of three generous health plans through Stanford Health Care Alliance, Aetna, or Kaiser Permanente. Each plan includes 100% coverage for preventive care, telemedicine through Teledoc, prescription drug coverage, and behavioral health coverage.

Additional incentives exist for healthy choices. And so much more – generous leave & time off, Wellness Program, special programs, educational assistance, and adoption assistance!

This is a Stanford Health Care job.

A Brief Overview

Complex Care Managers are highly skilled, licensed healthcare professionals responsible for maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of health care interventions necessary for a patient to attain the optimal results from his or her plan of care.

They are dedicated to patient and family centered care that values personal self-determination, manage multiple priorities, and engage in creative, compassionate, and ethical problem-solving.

As a member of a multidisciplinary health care team, Complex Care Managers perform comprehensive assessments and develop treatment plans which integrate the medical, social, and financial issues that impact individual patients, families, and populations.

Complex Care Managers are responsible for working collaboratively with all healthcare team members to develop and implement treatment plans that support the patient-centered plan of care for both individual patients and the service-line.

Complex Care Managers act as consultants to the clinical team, service lines, and other departments regarding patient assessment and patient care and participate in program development and quality improvement initiatives.

In their role, Complex Care Managers, apply evidence-based guidelines and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, influence, and direct the delivery and quality of patient care.

Complex Care Managers are assigned to a group of patients by medical specialty, unit, or clinic, and some activities may differ depending on the needs of the population.

Major responsibilities include coordinating all facets of a patient's admission/discharge or outpatient visit/follow-up; performing utilization review activities, including review of patient charts for timeliness of services as well as appropriate utilization of services; and ensuring optimum use of resources, service delivery, and compliance with external review agencies' requirements.

A health-system case management program has as its primary goal to ensure the most appropriate use of services by patients and, toward that end, to avoid duplication and misuse of medical services, control costs by reducing inefficient services, and improve the effectiveness of care delivery.

This job description covers all classifications for Social Workers within the organization. All Social Workers must meet all elements of the Essential Functions, and Qualifications.

There is a Voluntary professional development program designed to recognize and reward professional excellence in the role of Social Worker. Promotion is determined based on the Social Worker Professional Development Program. Here is a description of the various levels:

  • Level I: Social Worker
  • Level II: Advanced Social Worker
  • Level III: Expert Social Worker

Locations

Stanford Health Care

What You Will Do

Advocacy & Education: Patient/Family Self Care Management, Patient/Family Health Management Education, Bioethics Referrals & Management, Physician, Staff & Community Education, Case Management Education & Training, Risk Management Identification & Referral

Clinical Care Coordination/Facilitation: Plan of Care & Outcomes Management, Patient Care Integration, Resource Management, Patient/Family Care Conferences, Interdisciplinary Care Communication/Coordination, Continuity of Care Planning Management.

Continuity/Transition Management: Capacity/Access Management & Throughput, Discharge Planning, SNF/Rehab/LTAC/Assisted Living Placement, Board and Care/Attendant Care Placement, Transportation & Travel Arrangements, DME, Home Health/Home Infusion, Mental Health Service Coordination, Hospice

Dialysis Coordination & Arrangements, Pharmaceutical Authorization/Management, Community Resource Coordination, Advance Directives, Palliative/End-of-Life Care, Health Care Resource Management/ Clinical Cost Efficiency, Financial Assistance/Referrals, Appeals Management, Entitlement Program Coordination, Patient Benefits Coordination: CCS/GHPP/Medicare/Medi-Cal/SSI

Performance & Outcomes Management: Federal/State/Local Regulatory Agency Compliance, Joint Commission Standards Compliance, Clinical, Documentation Education/Support, Clinical Guidelines/Pathways/Evidenced Based Practice, Organizational Financial Performance/Management, length of Stay, Cost per Case, Denial Management

Psychosocial Management: Crisis Intervention, Psychosocial Assessment/Functioning, Counseling Support & Referral, Abuse/Neglect Identification & Referral (Partner, Child, Elder), Family Issues Affecting Care, Coping/Emotional Adjustment, Grief/Bereavement Support (Individual & Group), Adoption Resources, Health/Wellness Promotion, Substance Abuse Screening/Resources, Psychiatric Screening/Behavior, Management, Staff Support and Crisis Intervention (Critical Incident Stress Debriefing)

Research & Practice Development: Clinical Practice Improvements, Evidenced Based Clinical Practice, Social Work Best Practice Standards Development, Social Work Competency Development, Case Management Best Practice Standards Development, Case Management Competency Development

Utilization Management: Avoidable Delay Identification, Intervention & Tracking, Utilization Review, Medical Necessity Review, Care Plan Progression, Pre-Admission Planning, Third Party Payer Communication, Level of Care Appropriateness Coordination, Admission Status Determination, Clinical Denial Prevention

Education Qualifications

Master’s degree in Social Work from an accredited college or university

Experience Qualifications

Three (3) years of progressively responsible and directly related work experience

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Knowledge of contemporary case management principles and practice methods, including assessment, treatment planning, utilization management, and quality assurance

Ability to use multiple electronic systems, software programs, and the internet to review and record information

  • Knowledge of medical terminology and related levels of care and treatment
  • Ability to collaborate across disciplines to provide comprehensive, integrated care.
  • Ability to develop and implement educational materials and presentations for all levels of learners.

Ability to develop appropriate treatment plans, communicates with interdisciplinary teams, and coordinates care.

Ability to monitor and assure the patient's access to the appropriate level of care; the right health care providers; and the correct setting and services to meet the patient's needs; promote coordination and continuity in patient health care

  • Ability to provide age-appropriate assessments, interpretation of data, and delivery of interventions
  • Ability to provide appropriate patient care and clinical information when patients are admitted, referred, transferred, or discharged
  • Ability to remain knowledgeable regarding available treatments and services

Ability to resolve conflicts and/or negotiate with others to achieve positive results; establish and maintain effective interpersonal relationships

Ability to understand, interpret and apply complex federal and state hospital compliance laws, rules, regulations and guidelines

Knowledge of financial processes of various private and public funding sources for health care services/procedures

Knowledge of hospital operations, organization, systems and procedures and laws and regulations pertaining to the operation of hospitals in California

Knowledge of the full continuum of care available to patients, interrelationships of the care components, and their effective integration

Licenses and Certifications

LCSW - Lic Clinical Social Worker.

These Principles Apply to ALL Employees

SHC Commitment to Providing an Exceptional Patient & Family Experience

Stanford Health Care sets a high standard for delivering value and an exceptional experience for our patients and families. Candidates for employment and existing employees must adopt and execute C-I-CARE standards for all of patients, families and towards each other.

C-I-CARE is the foundation of Stanford’s patient-experience and represents a framework for patient-centered interactions. Simply put, we do what it takes to enable and empower patients and families to focus on health, healing and recovery.

  • You will do this by executing against our three experience pillars, from the patient and family’s perspective:
  • Know Me: Anticipate my needs and status to deliver effective care
  • Show Me the Way: Guide and prompt my actions to arrive at better outcomes and better health
  • Coordinate for Me: Own the complexity of my care t

Key Responsibilities

Complex Care Managers perform comprehensive assessments and develop treatment plans that integrate medical, social, and financial issues for patients. They coordinate all facets of patient care, including admission, discharge, and utilization review to ensure effective and efficient health care delivery.

Requirements

Candidates must hold a Master’s degree in Social Work and possess at least three years of directly related work experience. A valid LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) certification is required for this role.

Qualifications

Education
Professional certificate or licensure
Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

Patient advocacyEvidence-based practiceInterdisciplinary collaborationRegulatory complianceConflict resolution

Pediatrics — Social Worker Career Context

Stanford Health Care holds silver-tier status on WeekdayDoc's Top Employers work-life index, composite score 73/100, 48 active listings.

Of the 31 active Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) listings this role was benchmarked against, 48% are remote, 39% have no call, 55% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$147k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $133k in an average-cost state. 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Top Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) Jobs

26 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution22 jobs · 20 employers

7
<$105k
4
$105k-120k
5
$120k-135k
6
$135k-150k

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks19 jobs

401k / retirement match
89%
Sign-on bonus
37%
CME allowance
37% this job
Loan repayment
11%
PSLF eligible
5%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Bilingual)Contract

Adelphi Staffing · White Plains, New York

$70/hr
#2

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)

LifeStance Health · West Linn, Oregon

$123k-$141k
#3

Advanced Licensed Clinical Social Worker - Pediatric Palliative Care Program

$59.42-$66.62/hr
#4

Remote (LCSW) Licensed Clinical Social Worker-Virginia

$66/hr
+ 24 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 6.1this job 3.0
Better work-life than 20% of Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 2,010 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Living in Palo Alto

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$3.26M
Typical market rent
$4,678/mo
Residents’ average commute
21 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
110.4
State income tax
Up to 13.3%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

Stanford Health Care logo

About Stanford Health Care

Hospitals and Health Care
Palo Alto, California
10,000+ employees

Benefits & Perks

$2K education funds
5 paid days for training / CEUs
Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Employee assistance program
Savings and spending accounts
Disability insurance