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POLICY & PROCEDURE

MISSION STATEMENT 

OUR MISSION AT REHABWORKS PHYSICAL THERAPY IS TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE FIELD BY:

• Teaching patients how to manage their condition so it carries into all aspects of daily living
• Abiding by our Hospitality Care™ model, which focuses on understanding the “whole person” through an Emotional Intelligence approach  
• Making rehabilitation more accessible to patients by not requiring a referral at the start of care

CONFIDENCE IN TEACHING- Part of our Hospitality Trademark

A physical therapist can best exude confidence and professionalism when addressing a patient by maintaining a calm demeanor and clear communication style. This involves explaining treatments, benefits and progress in an understandable manner, and answering any patient queries with patience and empathy. Body language is also crucial; standing tall, making eye contact, and using open gestures can convey confidence. Demonstrating up-to-date knowledge in our field, including the latest research and techniques, can show professionalism. Additionally, respecting patients’ boundaries and confidentiality, adhering to ethical standards, and displaying a genuine commitment to their well-being further reinforces a professional image. By combining these elements, a physical therapist can create a trusting and respectful environment, thus, fostering a successful therapeutic alliance. And please remember to accommodate the patient in the best way possible, including when they arrive off schedule or late.

DRESS CODE

We wish to exhibit a professional healthcare environment. Acceptable attire: Uniform shirts provided by RehabWorks.  Until uniforms are provided, khaki type pants or dress pants, and matching shoes in neat condition are acceptable.  No overly worn clothing please.  Facial piercings are not permitted during treatment hours. Body art, tattoos, and body piercing should be concealed with clothing to the best of your ability. 

GIFTS

Gifts, monetary or other, must be brought to your director’s attention and approved.  They should not be recurring.  Regular tips are not an accepted practice.

PROFESSIONAL LICENSING AND CERTIFICATIONS

RehabWorks wishes to support their therapists and provides reimbursement for licensing requirements. If you provide us with fair notice of the payment date, we will pay upfront.  It is the responsibility of the therapist to maintain all update requirements, CEU’s, and to notify RehabWorks immediately if a certification has lapsed.

PTO BANK AND PAID HOLIDAYS

Policy Overview

We understand the importance of work-life balance and recognize the need for employees to have time away from work. As such, we offer a Paid Time Off (PTO) bank for all employees to use at their discretion.

PTO Bank

The PTO bank can be used for various reasons, including but not limited to vacation, illness, personal needs, and emergencies. This does not include company-observed holidays, which are separate and do not affect your PTO balance.

PTO Accrual

Upon the start of employment, you are immediately awarded a one-week (5 business days) vacation as a welcoming gift. This is in addition to the PTO you accrue throughout the year, which will equal one new day per service year. 

However, the accrual of additional PTO may be subject to terms and conditions specified in any private employment contracts you may have with the company. If you are under a private contract, please refer to its terms for any specifications regarding PTO accrual.

PTO and Resignation

Should you decide to resign from your position, any unused PTO will not be paid out upon departure. This includes the initial one-week vacation provided upon the start of your employment.

Resignation Following PTO

We encourage open communication about employment transitions as early as possible to maintain operational efficiency. Employees who resign or leave their positions within 4 weeks of using PTO may be subject to a review for repayment of used PTO.

Resignation Notice Period

In order to maintain a smooth transition and operational efficiency, we require different notice periods for different roles within the company:

– Physical Therapy Assistants (PTAs): A minimum notice of 2 weeks is required upon resignation.

– Physical Therapists (PTs): A minimum notice of 4 weeks is required upon resignation.

These notice periods may be superseded by any terms or conditions stated in individual employment contracts. If you are under a private contract, please refer to its terms for any specifications regarding notice periods and PTO.

Holiday Pay

Our company observes and provides paid time off for the following major holidays:

    – 4th of July

    – New Year’s Day

    – Memorial Day

    – Independence Day

    – Labor Day

    – Thanksgiving Day

    – Christmas Day

    These holidays are paid and are not deducted from your PTO bank.

PTO Requests and Approvals

PTO requests should be submitted through the company portal at least two weeks in advance for planned absences. Before finalizing your plans please check to see if your time(s) is free to take, especially around holidays.  PTO needs to be approved by HR, such approval may be based on coverage availability.

To ensure optimal staffing levels and maintain high-quality patient care during our season, which is defined as January through May, we ask staff to limit, as much as possible, from taking PTO during this critical period. This does not include emergencies or sudden illness. 

Absence Without Notice

If an employee terminates their employment without providing proper notice, especially following PTO usage, the company reserves the right, in accordance with Florida law, to withhold or recover the cost of the PTO used from any final wages or compensation due. 

We value your commitment to our organization. We encourage you to take the necessary time to rest, rejuvenate, and attend to your personal needs through our PTO policy. We believe in fostering a work environment that respects work-life balance and enhances overall employee well-being.

PROTECTION FROM DISRUPTION OF SERVICES

1. Safeguarding Patient Care: To ensure continuity and quality of patient care, departing therapist employees are required to cooperate with a structured handover process. This includes the timely conclusion and transfer of all pertinent patient records, treatment plans, and any ongoing care responsibilities to a designated colleague.
2. Device and Digital Information Return:
3. Departing therapist employees must surrender all company-owned devices including computers, tablets, and any other related electronic equipment.
4. All passwords and access credentials related to the work-related accounts and digital resources must be provided to the management or designated IT representative.
5. Personal data must be removed, and all devices must be returned in working condition.
6. Compliance and Liability:
7. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in withholding of final payment(s) until a resolution is met.
8. Employees are expected to maintain professional confidentiality and adhere to all existing agreements, including non-disclosure and non-compete clauses, and post-employment concessions.
9. Support for Transition: The organization will provide necessary support to ensure a smooth transition, protecting both the departing employee’s rights and the organization’s interests.

This policy aims to maintain the integrity and smooth functioning of our patient care and business operations, while also respecting the rights and responsibilities of departing employees.

REPORTING EMERGENCIES & DAMAGED OR NONWORKING EQUIPMENT

Please report patient accidents and hazards to your supervisor with the utmost urgency and immediately following or observing such conditions or incidents.  Seek co worker assistance with all physically challenging tasks or restrictions.

DOCUMENTATION

We value patient interaction and prefer that note taking be kept to a minimum when face to face with your patients.  It is recommended that a quick Subjective report be captured initially, highlights of your Assessment observations be made immediately following your session of care, and then the finalization of your note be revisited later. 

We produce a helpful “missed note report” which is generated every Monday for all therapists.  They are used to capture notes or open billing that have not been completed to date.  Timely documentation is encouraged and should not be turned in later than Monday for the preceding week.  If more time is needed, please discuss with your supervisor the need for additional private time and it will be arranged.  

SAFETY AND WORK INJURY PREVENTION

General area clutter and cleanup is a liability and must be attended to by all contractors and employees.  All items used during client care must be returned to its storage space immediately after use and not left on the floor.

Your safety is of the utmost importance! The most important thing when guarding a patient is to be ready in a sports position before initiating any activity. “If you think of the dynamics, you are halfway there!”

ASSESS RISK

1. Ask if the patient trusts their legs?
   2. Test them-Can they straighten up?
   3. Do they take short or fast steps?
   4. Do they seem to have cognitive challenges?
   5. Look for weakness on one side?
   6. Constantly watch the legs?
   7. Have them walk with a wide stride/monster walk

THREE FACTORS FOR FALLS & METHODS TO PROTECT YOURSELF

1. Legs give out-the patient goes straight down. (Worst).  What to do?  Firm your stomach-pull them against you and slide them down your leg-lower yourself and decelerate, protect their head. CONTROL THE FALL TO PROTECT THE PATIENT AND YOURSELF.
2. Tripping-POOR BASE OF SUPPORT (FEET TO CLOSE TOGETHER) 
3. Tilt and fall- Tripod effect, proper use of assistive devices, out away from the leg. 

WORKING WITH ASSISTIVE DEVICES
Use a BACKUP person when at all possible
Gait belt
WC Backup
(Take an extra time to setup what’s needed)

HOLDING/SUPPORTING/GUARDING
Don’t have them take your arm, you control the contact
Lock devices
Block their feet when transferring
Block their knees when transferring
Block their wheels if brakes are poor

TRANSFER INSTRUCTIONS
Do a simulation test
More than “mild” assistance required? Approach from the front
Tell them to lock their legs by tightening their leg muscles
Have them engage in the task, tell them-“Worn me if you feel like your knees  are going to give out”
Get their feet outside the box

USE LEVERAGE

Body mechanics
Increase your base of support
Use your Core strengthen
Leveraging yourself with one arm support on a table, chair etc.
Lift with your legs

REACHING LEVER ARM

Gallon of milk held straight out is three times as heavy as holding it against your chest. Keep things/patents close to your body 

AVOID

Twisting and bending at the same time, and straight legged bending with a load.

The Joint Commission suggests a more forgiving post-fall management program that includes elements such as “post-fall huddles” where your fall-prevention team and other affected staff members come together to analyze the situation like identifying the cause: Was it environmental? medicinal? cognitive? footwear? obstacles? weakness?

MISCONCEPTIONS:

DON’T BE AFRAID TO USE THE FLOOR, LOWER SAFELY AND PROTECT THE HEAD

DON’T BE AFRAID TO SAY- “HOLD ON, THIS DOESN’T WORK FOR ME”-AND RE-ADJUST

CELL PHONE USE

Cell Phones should be set to silent or vibrate mode during the supervision and treatment of patients, and in any circumstance where incoming calls may be disruptive.

While at work, employees are expected to exercise discretion in using personal cell phones at the therapists’ station. Texting is prohibited during direct patient contact and table side treatments. Excessive personal calls during the workday can interfere with employee productivity and be distracting to others. Employees are encouraged to make any personal calls during nonwork time when possible and to ensure that friends and family members are aware of RehabWorks policy.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND REPRESENTATION 

• PURPOSE To provide organization employees with guidelines for participation in social media, including RehabWorks hosted social media and non-hosted social media in which the employees affiliation is known, identified, or presumed.
• POLICY RehabWorks recognizes the value of online social media sites and blogs as vital resources to positively promote the organization’s mission, values, operational goals, marketing, and recruitment activities.
• DEFINITIONS Blog: a blog is a website maintained by an individual or organization with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other materials such as graphics or video.
• Podcast: a collection of digital media files distributed over the Internet, often using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers.
• Protected Health Information (PHI): individually identifiable information (oral, written, or electronic) about a patient’s physical or mental health, the receipt of health care, or payment for that care.
• RSS feeds or Syndication feeds: a family of different formats used to publish updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts and “feed” this information to subscribers via email or by an RSS reader.
• Social media: includes but are not limited to blogs, podcasts, discussion forums, online collaborative information and publishing systems that are accessible to internal and external audiences (i.e., Wikis), RSS feeds, video sharing, and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
• Wiki: allows users to create, edit, and link Web pages easily; often used to create collaborative sites (called “Wikis”) and to power community Websites.

  PROCEDURE

1.   This policy also applies to employees using social media while tending to patients. It also applies to the use of social media when away from work, when the employee’s organization affiliation is identified, known, or presumed. It does not apply to content that is non-outpatient related or is otherwise unrelated to the organization.
2.   Employees may not post any material that is obscene, defamatory, profane, libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful, embarrassing or discriminatory manner on the basis of age, race, sex or sexual orientation to another person or entity when posting to organization-hosted sites.
3.   Employees may not post content that fails to comply with all applicable local, state, and federal laws. Employees must abide by the copyright laws by ensuring that they have permission to use or reproduce copyrighted photos, graphics, text, video, or other material owned by others.
4.   All uses and disclosures of patient identifying health information (PHI) is strictly prohibited without the express written authorization for the use and disclosure of the information from the patient/patient’s representative and agency.
5.   On non-organization hosted sites, employees may not disclose any confidential or proprietary information about the organization, represent that they are communicating the organization’s views or do anything that might create the impression that they are communicating on behalf of the organization.
6.   The social media oversight committee shall serve as a resource for questions and concerns regarding the appropriate use of social media and blogs by the employees. (“Social Media and Blog Guidelines” Addendum 2-044.A)
7.   The inappropriate use of social media or blogs by the employee that conflicts with the organization’s mission and values, violates administrative policies and procedures, and/or compromises the privacy and security of confidential patient health or proprietary business information shall be subject to corrective action, up to and including termination. In addition, breach of confidential patient health information may also be subject to legal proceedings and/or criminal charges.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND BLOG GUIDELINES

These guidelines are suggestions of dos and don’ts of social media and blogs. This list is not inclusive.

1. Get approval: Do not announce organization news on a social media site or blog. Do not reference clients, patients, or partners without their approval.
2.   Don’t betray our patient’s trust: Disclosing confidential patient Protected Health Information (PHI) in an inappropriate manner is a federal offense. Even acknowledging the care of a patient is an unacceptable disclosure of PHI.
3.   Don’t discredit, perform slander, or by any means direct character defamation or any other written or verbal misrepresentation towards RehabWorks and its constituents.
4.   Use a disclaimer: If you publish a blog, post a comment, or share an image and it has something to do with the work you do, make it clear that what you say is your view and opinions and not necessarily the views and opinions of the organization.
5.   Respect copyright laws.
6.   Don’t jeopardize your reputation and/or future employment opportunities: You should consider everything you post online begins to build a lifetime record of you.
7.   Be accurate: Respect the facts and link to the trusted sources that validate your opinions.
8.   Be professional: Employees are reminded that statements made in the confines of private blogs and chat rooms must treat the organization and its employees, clients, and competitors with respect.

Disclaimer: This policy will not be applied in a way that interferes with an employee’s rights under the National Labor Relations Act.