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What does a director of rehabilitation do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read

A Director of Rehabilitation coordinates and directs the rehabilitation program. Their primary duties include recruiting and training staff, developing therapy strategies, and evaluating patient care.

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Director of rehabilitation responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real director of rehabilitation resumes:

  • Create and lead facility-wide in-service training in ROM technique and proper use of orthotics and prosthetics devices.
  • Manage PPS details efficiently to ensure high quality clinical care while maximizing reimbursement for the facility.
  • Provide COTA services in accordance to MD orders and treatment plan establish by the OTR.
  • Schedule PSR staff members to facilitate groups base on individual strengths.
  • Work closely with SNF administration and clinical staff to improve coordination of services provide.
  • Mentore new building DOR providing education and training of all systems to promote successful outcomes.
  • Attend IEP meetings and present educational goals relate to OT as well as recommendations for ESY services.
  • Serve as a case manager to assure that the rehab team meets all rehab targets and MDS responsibilities.
  • Direct rehab operations in 3 SNF's while acting as the primary OT in two of the programs.
  • Advocate for clients for housing, legal issues, PSR authorizations, educational issues, employment, etc.
  • Work in conjunction with billing and MDS coordinator to perform closing the rehab therapies for end of the month.
  • Direct and collaborate in daily stand-up meetings, weekly PPS meetings and monthly triple-check meetings with the administrative team.
  • Perform duties of a staff OT as needed including COTA supervision, family education, community outings and home visits.
  • Supervise the fabrication of therapeutic splints and orthotic adaptations.
  • Design and individualize wellness programs for all patients, which includes nutritional recommendations and necessary lifestyle changes/behavior modification.

Director of rehabilitation skills and personality traits

We calculated that 18% of Directors Of Rehabilitation are proficient in Rehabilitation, Patients, and Occupational Therapy. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Leadership skills, and Technical skills.

We break down the percentage of Directors Of Rehabilitation that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Rehabilitation, 18%

    Developed and implemented a cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program.

  • Patients, 15%

    Assure patients admitted for treatment receive required therapy services and necessary skilled services are documented.

  • Occupational Therapy, 7%

    Provide occupational therapy evaluations and treatments for clients with medical, neurological and orthopedic diagnosis

  • Physical Therapy, 7%

    Administered physical therapy evaluations, treatment, clinical and billing documentation for admissions to facility and In-House referrals to Physical Therapy.

  • Healthcare, 7%

    Improved healthcare delivery at the bedside focusing on patient safety and collaborative nursing.

  • Speech Therapy, 4%

    Provided updates concerning Medicare and changes that affected the practice of occupational, physical or speech therapy services.

Common skills that a director of rehabilitation uses to do their job include "rehabilitation," "patients," and "occupational therapy." You can find details on the most important director of rehabilitation responsibilities below.

Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a director of rehabilitation to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "medical and health services managers review and evaluate healthcare metrics for ways to improve efficiency and meet goals." Additionally, a director of rehabilitation resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "track mds assessment period data, billing, and attend all weekly medicare and idt meetings. "

Leadership skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling director of rehabilitation duties is leadership skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "medical and health services managers hire, train, and direct staff." According to a director of rehabilitation resume, here's how directors of rehabilitation can utilize leadership skills in their job responsibilities: "provided effective leadership and provided physical, occupational and speech therapy for six skilled nursing facilities within the corporation. "

Technical skills. This is an important skill for directors of rehabilitation to perform their duties. For an example of how director of rehabilitation responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "medical and health services managers must stay up to date with advances in healthcare technology, such as the coding and electronic health record (ehr) systems their facility adopts." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a director of rehabilitation: "acted as technical expert to address rehabilitation and rtw issues in rfp's for all products and process workgroups. ".

Communication skills. For certain director of rehabilitation responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a director of rehabilitation rely on this skill, as "medical and health services managers must convey information to their staff, other healthcare workers, and, sometimes, patients and insurance agents." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what directors of rehabilitation do: "improved communication between nursing and rehabilitation as well as the dialysis department and rehabilitation to ensure smooth transition in scheduling. "

Detail oriented. Another common skill required for director of rehabilitation responsibilities is "detail oriented." This skill comes up in the duties of directors of rehabilitation all the time, as "medical and health services managers must pay attention to detail." An excerpt from a real director of rehabilitation resume shows how this skill is central to what a director of rehabilitation does: "managed pps details efficiently to ensure high quality clinical care while maximizing reimbursement for the facility. "

Most common director of rehabilitation skills

The three companies that hire the most director of rehabilitations are:

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Director Of Rehabilitation Resume
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Compare different directors of rehabilitation

Director of rehabilitation vs. Nurse manager

The primary role of nurse managers is to supervise the nursing staff in a clinical or hospital setting. They are the ones who are in charge of patient care, setting work schedules, and making budgetary and management decisions. They are also responsible for making personnel decisions, coordinating meetings, and creating safe environments that promote patient engagement and aid the healthcare team's work. Their role is vital in promoting a culture in which team members contribute to professional growth and patient outcomes.

We looked at the average director of rehabilitation salary and compared it with the wages of a nurse manager. Generally speaking, nurse managers are paid $5,281 lower than directors of rehabilitation per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both director of rehabilitation and nurse manager positions are skilled in rehabilitation, patients, and quality improvement.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, director of rehabilitation responsibilities require skills like "occupational therapy," "physical therapy," "healthcare," and "speech therapy." Meanwhile a typical nurse manager has skills in areas such as "cpr," "customer service," "surgery," and "quality patient care." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Nurse managers tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $90,775. In contrast, directors of rehabilitation make the biggest average salary, $78,165, in the health care industry.nurse managers tend to reach lower levels of education than directors of rehabilitation. In fact, nurse managers are 11.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 6.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Director of rehabilitation vs. Patient care manager

Patient care managers are executives who are in charge of supervising a clinical team. The managers take responsibility for directing patient care within an organization. Also called health care managers, they protect every patient's safety and health in a clinical setting. They interact with the healthcare team members to maintain open communication. It is also part of their duties to supervise the daily operations in the clinical care units. Managing clinical budgets and maintaining quality health services are also their responsibilities.

A career as a patient care manager brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a director of rehabilitation. In fact, patient care managers salary is $23,596 lower than the salary of directors of rehabilitation per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Directors of rehabilitation and patient care managers both require similar skills like "rehabilitation," "patients," and "home health" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that director of rehabilitation responsibilities requires skills like "occupational therapy," "physical therapy," "healthcare," and "speech therapy." But a patient care manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "quality care," "social work," "community resources," and "substance abuse."

Patient care managers earn a lower average salary than directors of rehabilitation. But patient care managers earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $54,278. Additionally, directors of rehabilitation earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $78,165 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Patient care managers tend to reach lower levels of education than directors of rehabilitation. In fact, they're 9.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 6.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Director of rehabilitation vs. Practice manager

A practice manager is responsible for supervising daily operations, especially on the side of the medical industry. Practice managers monitor staffing needs, train new employees, and evaluate the employees' productivity and performance. They also enforce strict guidelines and procedures, ensuring that the processes adhere to the legal standards and regulatory requirements. Practice managers also maintain budget goals, creating cost estimates and expense reports. A practice manager must have strong communication, analytical, and critical-thinking skills, as well as comprehensive knowledge of the medical industry practices.

An average practice manager eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of directors of rehabilitation. The difference in salaries amounts to practice managers earning a $18,409 higher average salary than directors of rehabilitation.By looking over several directors of rehabilitation and practice managers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "patients," "compassion," and "staff development." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a director of rehabilitation is likely to be skilled in "rehabilitation," "occupational therapy," "physical therapy," and "healthcare," while a typical practice manager is skilled in "patient care," "customer service," "pet," and "practice management."

Practice managers earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $97,698. Comparatively, directors of rehabilitation have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $78,165.practice managers typically earn lower educational levels compared to directors of rehabilitation. Specifically, they're 11.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 5.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Director of rehabilitation vs. Clinical manager

A clinical manager is responsible for monitoring medical procedures and administrative duties to ensure the smooth flow of operations in a healthcare facility. Clinical managers manage the facility's staffing needs, evaluate budget reports, assist healthcare professionals on administering medical duties, and develop strategic procedures to optimize treatments and maximize productivity. A clinical manager enforces strict sanitary and safety regulations for everyone's strict compliance. They also need to have excellent knowledge of the medical industry to promote medical processes and provide the highest quality care.

Clinical managers tend to earn a lower pay than directors of rehabilitation by an average of $4,899 per year.According to resumes from directors of rehabilitation and clinical managers, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "rehabilitation," "patients," and "physical therapy. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "occupational therapy," "healthcare," "speech therapy," and "acute care" are skills that commonly show up on director of rehabilitation resumes. On the other hand, clinical managers use skills like customer service, quality patient care, patient education, and process improvement on their resumes.The health care industry tends to pay the highest salaries for clinical managers, with average annual pay of $72,510. Comparatively, the highest director of rehabilitation annual salary comes from the health care industry.The average resume of clinical managers showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to directors of rehabilitation. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 7.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 4.6%.

Types of director of rehabilitation

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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