Manager of Rehabilitation and Respiratory

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and expand UEW's Physical Therapy program in alignment with the company's mission, clinical priorities, and patient population.
• Assess current and future program needs, including service demand, geographic coverage, staffing models, equipment, technology, policies, workflows, and budget considerations.
• Establish standardized referral, evaluation, reassessment, treatment, discharge, and care-coordination processes for therapy services.
• Develop clinical pathways and program criteria that address fall risk, functional decline, mobility limitations, deconditioning, safe transfers, caregiver education, and hospitalization prevention.
• Identify opportunities to expand Respiratory Therapy and other rehabilitation services while maintaining discipline-specific scope-of-practice safeguards.
• Use quality, utilization, satisfaction, and outcome data to recommend program changes, growth priorities, and resource needs.
• Provide professional clinical leadership and supervision for Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants consistent with each applicable state physical therapy practice act and organizational policy.
• Ensure therapy evaluations, reassessments, treatment plans, progress reports, discharge summaries, and other required documentation are timely, complete, clinically appropriate, and patient-centered.
• Monitor the achievement of functional goals, patient response to treatment, barriers to progress, and the continued need for skilled therapy services.
• Ensure PTA direction, supervision, communication, and supervisory visits are completed and documented as required by the state in which services are provided.
• Provide consultation for complex therapy cases, changes in function, falls, safety concerns, equipment needs, and questions related to therapy scope or delegation.
• Escalate significant patient-safety, regulatory, or professional-practice concerns to the Director of Clinical Services and other designated leaders.
• Partner with Human Resources and operational leaders to recruit, interview, select, onboard, and retain Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants, Respiratory Therapists, and assigned support staff.
• Develop and maintain discipline-specific orientation plans, educational content, job aids, clinical resources, and competency-validation tools.
• Orient new Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants to UEW's patient population, care model, documentation expectations, interdisciplinary workflows, hospitalization-prevention priorities, and quality standards.
• Coordinate initial, annual, and remedial competency assessment in collaboration with appropriately licensed discipline-specific leaders.
• Identify education needs through audits, outcome trends, incidents, staff feedback, regulatory changes, and performance-improvement findings.
• Provide ongoing coaching, clinical education, case consultation, and targeted retraining, and evaluate follow-through after education.
• Establish, monitor, and report therapy quality indicators and performance expectations.
• Monitor timeliness of therapy evaluations and reassessments, achievement of patient functional goals, fall rates, hospitalization and readmission trends, patient satisfaction, documentation quality, and compliance.
• Review therapy-related incidents, complaints, grievances, missed visits, delayed evaluations, and barriers to care, and coordinate appropriate follow-up.
• Partner with Quality and Clinical Operations to complete focused audits, root-cause reviews, corrective actions, and evaluation of sustained improvement.
• Lead or participate in QAPI initiatives involving rehabilitation, mobility, fall prevention, functional outcomes, or respiratory services.
• Translate quality findings into practical changes in education, workflows, clinical tools, staffing, and patient-care practices.
• Maintain current knowledge of applicable state Physical Therapy practice acts, PTA supervision requirements, state-specific licensure requirements, ACHC standards, payer requirements, and organizational policies affecting assigned services.
• Ensure required supervisory visits, plan-of-care updates, physician orders, progress documentation, and other therapy records are completed within applicable requirements.
• Monitor professional licenses, credentials, competencies, and required certifications in coordination with Human Resources and credentialing functions.
• Participate in regulatory surveys, accreditation activities, audits, investigations, plans of correction, and compliance monitoring as assigned.
• Collaborate with Compliance, Quality, and Clinical Services to address identified deficiencies, inconsistent practices, or emerging regulatory risks.
• Maintain confidentiality of patient, workforce, and organizational records in accordance with HIPAA, the Privacy Act, applicable law, and organizational policy.
• Provide day-to-day operational leadership for rehabilitation services and assigned respiratory services.
• Monitor staffing levels, caseload distribution, scheduling, productivity, utilization, service capacity, travel demands, and timely access to care.
• Identify staffing gaps and recommend recruitment, coverage, contractor, or service-area strategies to support program growth and continuity of care.
• Develop consistent processes for assignment, communication, escalation, coverage, and interdisciplinary coordination across locations and states.
• Review operational and clinical data to identify inefficiencies, unwarranted variation, and opportunities to improve access, quality, and patient outcomes.
• Provide regular program updates, risks, trends, and recommendations to the Director of Clinical Services and other organizational leaders.
• Support the authorizations process, including assisting with Department of Labor (DOL) communications, response letters, and related documentation, when requested by the DOL.
• Integrate rehabilitation services with Nursing, Case Management, medical providers, Quality, Compliance, Operations, Intake, Staffing, and other departments.
• Promote timely communication regarding changes in condition, functional decline, falls, unsafe mobility, equipment needs, caregiver concerns, and barriers to the plan of care.
• Participate in case conferences, clinical reviews, quality meetings, and leadership meetings as assigned.
• Provide education to clinical and operational teams regarding appropriate therapy referrals, therapy scope, fall prevention, functional decline, and coordination of rehabilitation services.
• Support effective transitions of care following hospitalization or other significant changes in patient status.
• Serve as the organizational resource and first-level escalation point for Physical Therapy program questions.
• Provide administrative and operational oversight for Respiratory Therapy and other assigned rehabilitation disciplines, including program development, staffing, scheduling, quality monitoring, education coordination, and interdisciplinary integration.
• Ensure discipline-specific clinical supervision, competency validation, and professional-practice decisions are assigned to an appropriately licensed or credentialed professional when outside the Manager's licensed scope.
• Do not independently direct, validate, or supervise professional practice outside the scope authorized by the Manager's own license.
• Collaborate with discipline-specific clinical leaders to address practice concerns, competency needs, documentation standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Escalate any uncertainty regarding scope of practice or supervision requirements before assigning or directing clinical duties.
• Establish performance expectations and provide ongoing operational supervision, coaching, feedback, and support for assigned staff.
• Participate in performance evaluations, performance-improvement plans, and corrective-action processes in collaboration with Human Resources and appropriate discipline-specific clinical leadership.
• Promote accountability, collaboration, professional growth, ethical practice, and a culture of patient safety.
• Maintain current, unrestricted Physical Therapist licensure and required continuing education.
• Demonstrate sound clinical judgment, professional integrity, effective communication, and appropriate escalation of risk.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Graduate of an accredited Physical Therapy program.
• Current, unrestricted Physical Therapist license in the state of primary practice; additional state licenses or compact privileges as required by organizational responsibilities and applicable law.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of professional Physical Therapy experience.
• Two or more years of leadership, supervisory, education, or program-development experience preferred.
• Home care, home health, post-acute, outpatient, rehabilitation, or community-based care experience preferred.
• Experience orienting and educating Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants and developing competency programs.
• Knowledge of state Physical Therapy practice acts, PTA supervision, documentation standards, physician orders, plans of care, and accreditation expectations.
• Experience with QAPI, clinical auditing, fall-prevention initiatives, hospitalization reduction, regulatory compliance, or accreditation preferred.
• Experience supporting medically complex, chronically ill, or functionally vulnerable patient populations.
• Experience with Department of Labor or EEOICPA patient populations preferred.
• Experience with Respiratory Therapy services or interdisciplinary rehabilitation program oversight preferred.
• Strong leadership, teaching, clinical assessment, critical-thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to develop programs, policies, procedures, workflows, orientation materials, and clinical education.
• Ability to analyze quality and operational data and translate findings into measurable improvement strategies.
• Excellent communication, presentation, collaboration, coaching, and conflict-resolution skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and applicable electronic medical record systems.
• Current BLS certification if required for assigned clinical responsibilities.
• Must pass a criminal background check and drug screen as applicable by state.