Physical Therapy Outsourcing

Providing physical therapy and rehabilitation services should be a core part of any hospital’s plan to achieve positive patient outcomes and high rates of patient satisfaction. For people recovering from surgery or other advanced treatments to people admitted for injuries and illnesses such as automobile accidents, stroke and diabetes, having onsite physical therapy and rehab can greatly aid the recovery process. This in turn can result in more satisfied patients and a lower likelihood of costly readmissions.

However, many hospitals, including smaller and/or remotely located facilities, struggle to provide these necessary rehab services on a cost-effective basis. If the budgetary requirements of a hospital outweigh the perceived benefits of a physical therapy unit, or it is deemed to be underperforming, it can be one of the first targets for downsizing.

A solution for many hospitals is to choose physical therapy outsourcing through a dedicated physical therapy service. This allows hospitals to benefit from the increased resources, expertise and personnel of a larger organization but at a lower cost and with less administrative burden.

If you’re a hospital leader or administrator trying to make this important decision, it can be helpful to have a deeper understanding of the reasons hospitals choose physical therapy outsourcing and the potential benefits it can provide.

Why do hospitals choose physical therapy outsourcing?

Physical therapy departments have a unique set of operational, staffing and compliance needs that often don’t scale with the smaller budgets and staffing pools of certain hospitals. This means that reducing the operating budget for physical therapy can result in a downward spiral where therapists become overworked, undertrained, under-equipped and aren’t able to provide the level of service patients deserve.

Here are some of the typical problems a hospital can face when trying to operate a physical therapy and rehab unit that is on-site:

  • Recruiting and hiring qualified and credentialed physical therapists can be difficult in certain regions, such as rural areas.
  • Properly documenting and charting services provided, especially if other clinical staff such as nurses are performing rehabilitation duties.  
  • Physical therapy also has a different set of regulatory expectations that require management to keep up with in order to stay compliant.

While these hurdles can make it seem like the most viable solution is to not offer on-site physical therapy, eliminating this essential service can potentially lead to negative effects on your patient experience, your readmission rates and your revenue streams.

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Benefits of physical therapy outsourcing

By outsourcing your physical therapy and rehabilitation services to a contract services partner such as Alliance Physical Therapy Partners, you can gain access to a pool of professional knowledge and operational efficiencies that will help your facility succeed in this critical area.

Tangible benefits of partnering with a physical therapy outsourcing provider can include:

Reduced labor costs

Partnering with a contract services provider lets you leverage their management expertise, reducing the need for in-house physical therapy administration.

Better compliance

An outsourcing partner should also have extensive knowledge and best practices in the areas of documentation and billing that can help with reimbursements from payers.

Improved patient experience

Patients who receive excellent physical therapy and rehabilitation services are more likely to be in a better state of health at discharge, resulting in better reported outcomes and overall satisfaction.

Strategic planning and development

Physical therapy outsourcing can also give your hospital expertise in everything from performance management to expanded offerings to marketing.

Achieving the results your hospital is looking for requires partnering with an experienced, high-quality physical therapy outsourcing provider.

Alliance Physical Therapy Partners is an outsourcing partner you can trust

We have been working with hospitals across the United States to provide contract physical therapy and rehabilitation for decades, and we bring over 50 years of experience with us. Joining with us will give you instant access to proven work systems, recruiting and hiring resources to get the best talent and efficient solutions for revenue growth.

Alliance is also proud to have developed a proprietary Rehabilitation Practice Management program that is designed to easily interface with all major electronic medical record systems. This will help your facility properly document services performed to patients and improve communication and performance with the rest of your medical staff.

Contact us to learn more. We can help you assess your current needs and develop a collaborative physical therapy outsourcing solution that is right for you and your patients.

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