Manager of Rehabilitation and Respiratory

Overview

We are people who care about people. Our company has a unique history and was founded by two grandchildren of a former Department of Energy worker. Their love and determination for their grandfather to have the best quality care for the best quality of life is what drives our company to provide care for the energy worker population.

The Manager of Rehabilitation and Respiratory Services provides operational, clinical-program, and administrative leadership for rehabilitation and respiratory therapy services across the organization. This position is responsible for ensuring high-quality, patient-centered therapy services through effective program management, clinical quality oversight, staff development, interdisciplinary collaboration, regulatory compliance, and performance improvement. The Manager supports Physical Therapy and Respiratory Therapy services and may provide administrative oversight of other rehabilitation disciplines, including Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology, as assigned. When the Manager's professional licensure does not encompass another discipline's scope of practice, discipline- specific clinical supervision, competency validation, and professional practice oversight will be provided by an appropriately licensed or credentialed professional in accordance with applicable federal and state requirements.

Responsibilities

• Program Development and Strategic Growth

a. Develop, implement, and expand UEW’s Physical Therapy program in alignment with the company’s mission,

clinical priorities, and patient population.

b. Assess current and future program needs, including service demand, geographic coverage, staffing models,

equipment, technology, policies, workflows, and budget considerations.

c. Establish standardized referral, evaluation, reassessment, treatment, discharge, and care-coordination

processes for therapy services.

d. Develop clinical pathways and program criteria that address fall risk, functional decline, mobility limitations,

deconditioning, safe transfers, caregiver education, and hospitalization prevention.

e. Identify opportunities to expand Respiratory Therapy and other rehabilitation services while maintaining

discipline-specific scope-of-practice safeguards.

f. Use quality, utilization, satisfaction, and outcome data to recommend program changes, growth priorities, and

resource needs.

• Physical Therapy Clinical Oversight

a. 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.

b. Ensure therapy evaluations, reassessments, treatment plans, progress reports, discharge summaries, and other

required documentation are timely, complete, clinically appropriate, and patient-centered.

c. Monitor the achievement of functional goals, patient response to treatment, barriers to progress, and the

continued need for skilled therapy services.

d. Ensure PTA direction, supervision, communication, and supervisory visits are completed and documented as

required by the state in which services are provided.

e. Provide consultation for complex therapy cases, changes in function, falls, safety concerns, equipment needs,

and questions related to therapy scope or delegation.

f. Escalate significant patient-safety, regulatory, or professional-practice concerns to the Director of Clinical

Services and other designated leaders.

• Recruitment, Orientation, Education, and Competency

a. 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.

b. Develop and maintain discipline-specific orientation plans, educational content, job aids, clinical resources, and

competency-validation tools.

c. 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.

d. Coordinate initial, annual, and remedial competency assessment in collaboration with appropriately licensed

discipline-specific leaders.

e. Identify education needs through audits, outcome trends, incidents, staff feedback, regulatory changes, and

performance-improvement findings.

f. Provide ongoing coaching, clinical education, case consultation, and targeted retraining, and evaluate follow-

through after education.

• Clinical Quality and Patient Outcomes

a. Establish, monitor, and report therapy quality indicators and performance expectations.

b. Monitor timeliness of therapy evaluations and reassessments, achievement of patient functional goals, fall rates,

hospitalization and readmission trends, patient satisfaction, documentation quality, and compliance.

c. Review therapy-related incidents, complaints, grievances, missed visits, delayed evaluations, and barriers to

care, and coordinate appropriate follow-up.

d. Partner with Quality and Clinical Operations to complete focused audits, root-cause reviews, corrective actions,

and evaluation of sustained improvement.

e. Lead or participate in QAPI initiatives involving rehabilitation, mobility, fall prevention, functional outcomes, or

respiratory services.

f. Translate quality findings into practical changes in education, workflows, clinical tools, staffing, and patient-care

practices.

• Regulatory, Accreditation, and Documentation Compliance

a. 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.

b. Ensure required supervisory visits, plan-of-care updates, physician orders, progress documentation, and other

therapy records are completed within applicable requirements.

c. Monitor professional licenses, credentials, competencies, and required certifications in coordination with Human

Resources and credentialing functions.

d. Participate in regulatory surveys, accreditation activities, audits, investigations, plans of correction, and

compliance monitoring as assigned.

e. Collaborate with Compliance, Quality, and Clinical Services to address identified deficiencies, inconsistent

practices, or emerging regulatory risks.

f. Maintain confidentiality of patient, workforce, and organizational records in accordance with HIPAA, the Privacy

Act, applicable law, and organizational policy.

• Operations, Productivity, and Caseload Management

a. Provide day-to-day operational leadership for rehabilitation services and assigned respiratory services.

b. Monitor staffing levels, caseload distribution, scheduling, productivity, utilization, service capacity, travel

demands, and timely access to care.

c. Identify staffing gaps and recommend recruitment, coverage, contractor, or service-area strategies to support

program growth and continuity of care.

d. Develop consistent processes for assignment, communication, escalation, coverage, and interdisciplinary

coordination across locations and states.

e. Review operational and clinical data to identify inefficiencies, unwarranted variation, and opportunities to improve

access, quality, and patient outcomes.

f. Provide regular program updates, risks, trends, and recommendations to the Director of Clinical Services and

other organizational leaders. g. Support the authorizations process, including assisting with Department of Labor (DOL) communications, response letters, and related documentation, when requested by the DOL.

• Interdisciplinary Collaboration

a. Integrate rehabilitation services with Nursing, Case Management, medical providers, Quality, Compliance,

Operations, Intake, Staffing, and other departments.

b. Promote timely communication regarding changes in condition, functional decline, falls, unsafe mobility,

equipment needs, caregiver concerns, and barriers to the plan of care.

c. Participate in case conferences, clinical reviews, quality meetings, and leadership meetings as assigned.

d. Provide education to clinical and operational teams regarding appropriate therapy referrals, therapy scope, fall

prevention, functional decline, and coordination of rehabilitation services.

e. Support effective transitions of care following hospitalization or other significant changes in patient status.

f. Serve as the organizational resource and first-level escalation point for Physical Therapy program questions.

• Respiratory Therapy and Other Rehabilitation Services

a. 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.

b. 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.

c. Do not independently direct, validate, or supervise professional practice outside the scope authorized by the

Manager’s own license.

d. Collaborate with discipline-specific clinical leaders to address practice concerns, competency needs,

documentation standards, and regulatory requirements.

e. Escalate any uncertainty regarding scope of practice or supervision requirements before assigning or directing

clinical duties.

• Leadership, Performance Improvement, and Professional Accountability

a. Establish performance expectations and provide ongoing operational supervision, coaching, feedback, and

support for assigned staff.

b. Participate in performance evaluations, performance-improvement plans, and corrective-action processes in

collaboration with Human Resources and appropriate discipline-specific clinical leadership.

c. Promote accountability, collaboration, professional growth, ethical practice, and a culture of patient safety.

d. Maintain current, unrestricted Physical Therapist licensure and required continuing education.

e. Demonstrate sound clinical judgment, professional integrity, effective communication, and appropriate escalation

of risk.

f. 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.