Physical Therapy Salary

how we get paid? how it affects patient care.

Physical therapy salary affects PT's and patients in many ways.

How? Keep reading to find out how.

But before you do, remember that there are some highly respected and exceptional home care PT's out there. Some however take advantage of the little supervision that home care can provide for the work that they do. The few bad apples out there have made it tough for those who deliver quality "gold."

The information below may help you know when or even why to call your agency. Many patients feel that things are "all in their heads." Listen to your gut... a physical therapy salary CAN affect your care...

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how home care physical therapists get paid.

• Salaried - set amount on each paycheck.
• Hourly - paid per hour that you work and drive.
• Per Diem - paid per patient seen plus mileage.
• Point system - all your work counts towards productivity points - with a set goal amount every day.

Again there are clearly some high quality PT's out there that deliver the gold standard no matter what their physical therapy salary. Other PT's need a little reminder that your care deserves quality.

salaried

Pretty straight forward. A set pay whether you see 2 patients or 30. A great deal for home care PT's. But a pay option that is rare to find.

The upside for PT's - you are salaried so even if half your patients cancel for the day, you still get a paycheck.

Good for patients:

When a salaried PT comes to your door, you can rest assured that you are more than likely going to get a quality focused and patient care driven PT who will provide the care you need and deserve. A salaried PT assures the PT a set salary no matter how many patients he sees a day, thus the PT is off the 'piece rate' factory line.

The down side to this is the unsupervised nature of home care. A PT's full day of 6-8 patients is still done sooner if the PT can get done sooner.

Are you beginning to see how different payment methods greatly impacts the physical therapy salary and your care? Keep reading.

hourly.

An hourly pay means that your agency can send you as far away as they want but you still get paid! When you have an hourly wage... it covers everything...driving, patient care, paperwork, meetings.

Great for patients:

When your home care PT is paid per hour, you can know that your care will not be rushed or slighted. Hourly pay means adequate time (but I still can't guarantee quality time!) They longer they work, the more hours they get in for the day. Your PT visit should not be rushed anyway, but this will almost guarantee that it won't be.

per diem.

PT's who are paid per diem mean that they are paid per visit. This means that the more patients you can see in a day the more money you can make. (And the higher tax bracket you can fall into!) On the flip side, if any of your patients are not home or cancel for that day, you are not paid a dime. It is hard for a physical therapy salary to run on a budget this way but it is the most common payment method.

Bad for patients:

PT's paid per diem can fall into the piece rate assembly line work ethic - not all, but some. Patients who are seen by a piece rate driven PT will likely get a canned program, poor care and very very short visits. You are wise to not sign that they have been there until you can verify the time in and time out on their time sheet. (Although they can change it later.)

If your PT does not provide services for at least 30 minutes and does not focus on and work with you on those goals that you spoke of during the initial PT visit, you might want to call the agency and report this. You will also have a state hot-line number that is on your home care folder or paperwork that you can report this and other problems to as well.

productivity points.

Productivity points allow your work to be counted fairly towards your daily productivity. Most agency's only count how many patients you see as productivity... This does not count meetings, excessive driving, paperwork time etc. Productivity points allow for a fair wage for ALL that home care entails.

OK for patients:

This isn't the best option for top quality care as each patient visit counts for so many points so the sooner those points can be obtained, the sooner the day is done for the PT.

More likely to get short visit, poor quality care and canned visits. Don't be afraid to call the agency. If you are concerned that the agency will cut your care (which they legally can't), you can also call the state hotline number which should also be on your home care folder or paperwork.

Physical therapy salary can affect the quality of care you get... speak up and speak out against poor quality care.

physical therapy salary - more options

your physical therapy career search

how agencies are paid

physical therapy career requirements