Medical and health care can be categorized as either skilled or unskilled.

Skilled care is administered by a professional health care worker, with the expectation of improvement and achievement of treatment goals, and the implication of an eventual lack of requirement for care services.

Unskilled care is mostly administered by nonprofessional workers, with the acknowledgement of an unlikelihood for improvement, and an aim of maintaining the patient's current health state (often, care involves assistance with tasks of daily living, such as bathing, eating, etc.).

Levels of care may be categorized as acute, sub acute, rehabilitation, skilled nursing, home health, and outpatient.

Acute care is characterized by the requirement of ongoing skilled care.

Sub acute care provides a lower intensity of care than acute.

Daily skilled care is typically administered at a nursing home or SNF (skilled nursing facility).

Home careprovides intermittent skilled care. If the patient meets a criterion that includes the ability to undergo three hours of rehab five days a week, he may qualify for inpatient rehabilitation care. If he fails to meet criteria, rehab may also be available in other facilities.

An important aspect of a case manager's job is the efficient progression through the levels of care and the treatment plan.