Home health physical therapist assistant job description
A home health physical therapist assistant carries out the PT's plan in patients' homes. They lead walking, balance and strength work and teach families to help. They see many of the visits on a case, tell the PT about changes the same day, and leave evaluations to the PT.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, home health care agencies · BLS, May 2025
We're hiring a Physical Therapist Assistant to treat home health patients under the plan of care a physical therapist writes. You'll lead exercise, gait, balance, and transfer training at home, teach patients and families, and tell the supervising therapist when a patient isn't progressing or their condition changes. Evaluations and reassessments stay with the physical therapist.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Treat patients following the physical therapist's plan of care, within your state's scope of practice for PTAs.
Lead gait, balance, transfer, and strengthening exercises, and update home exercise programs as the PT directs.
Check vital signs before and after exercise, and stop when readings fall outside the ordered parameters.
Report changes in condition, falls, and lack of progress to the supervising physical therapist the same day.
Leave evaluations, reassessments, OASIS, and discharge assessments to the physical therapist, as Medicare and state rules require.
Teach patients and caregivers to use walkers, canes, and transfer equipment safely.
Meet with your supervising PT for supervisory visits and case reviews as your state requires.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Treat [5–7] patients a day in your area, on routes built with the Scheduler.
Review the PT's plan and the last visit note before each visit.
Chart each treatment and the patient's response in [your EMR] before the next visit.
Call your supervising PT about any patient who isn't improving or has a new problem.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
PT visits completed at the ordered frequency: [your target].
PTA notes finished the same day: [your target].
Changes reported to the supervising PT the same day: [your target].
Home exercise programs updated as directed: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Associate degree from a physical therapist assistant program accredited by CAPTE.
Passed the National Physical Therapy Exam for PTAs, and holds an active [State] PTA license or certification.
Current BLS certification, or able to earn it before your first visit.
A valid driver's license, an insured car, and reliable transportation for visits across [your service area].
Passes a background check as your state requires, and keeps patient information private under HIPAA.
6. Preferred Experience
A PT Compact privilege, if you'll treat patients in a neighboring member state.
[1+] years of home health, skilled nursing, or outpatient experience as a PTA.
Experience with joint replacement, stroke, or fall-risk patients.
7. Physical Requirements
Guarding patients during walking and transfers, lifting up to [50] pounds with a gait belt or help.
Kneeling and bending to set up exercises and teach floor-to-chair transfers.
Driving between homes and climbing stairs into them.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Patients' homes across [your service area], with your supervising PT available by phone.
Homes may have pets, smoke, tight spaces, or loose rugs.
Schedule: [weekday visit schedule], with mileage per [your mileage policy].
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new physical therapist assistant gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
In an outpatient clinic, the supervising PT is often a few steps away. In home health the PT is usually not in the house during treatment, and both Medicare and the state draw lines around what the PTA may do.
Some parts of every case stay with the PT
Under Medicare's home health rules, a PT, not an assistant, does the first functional assessment and the regular reassessments. Only a PT may design a maintenance program. A PTA's notes report measures and changes as plain facts. They may not judge why a patient did or didn't make progress. That call belongs to the PT. Source: 42 CFR 409.44: Skilled services requirements (Cornell LII).
OASIS isn't a PTA task
CMS's OASIS manual lists PTAs among the staff who may not complete the comprehensive assessment or collect OASIS data. If agency policy allows, a PTA can share what they saw with the assessing clinician. The nurse or therapist doing the assessment chooses the answers and signs it. Plan recertification and discharge visits with that in mind. Source: CMS: OASIS-E2 Manual, effective April 1, 2026 (PDF).
State rules can be stricter than Medicare's
State PT boards set their own rules on top of Medicare's. In Virginia, for patients outside a hospital, the PT must reevaluate at least once in every 12 visits or every 30 days, whichever comes first. Texas stops PTA treatment if the PT hasn't reevaluated at least once every 60 days. Follow whichever rule is stricter. Source: 18VAC112-20-120: Responsibilities to patients (Virginia Administrative Code).
The PT is a phone call away
In a clinic, a PTA can ask the PT to look at a patient right then. At home, the PTA checks vital signs against the limits in the PT's plan and decides when to stop a session. They call the PT the same day about a fall, new pain or a patient who has stopped improving.
Routes carry most of the visits
On many cases the PTA sees the patient more often than the PT does. The Scheduler builds the PTA's day by town. The PT's own reassessment and discharge visits have to fit into the same weeks, so a gap in either schedule stalls the case.
How much home health physical therapist assistants make
Physical therapist assistants who work for home health care agencies earned a median of $38.49 an hour ($80,050 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $68,380 median for physical therapist assistants in all industries. About 14,030 of the 112,430 physical therapist assistants in that survey work for home health care agencies.
Agencies often pay PTAs by the visit or by the hour, at a lower rate than PTs. For a PTA who is owed overtime, federal rules treat the drive between visits as work time, and per-visit pay has to cover it.
Home health care agencies
$80,050$80,050 median Middle half $68,230–$91,750 10th–90th $59,110–$102,080
All industries
$68,380$68,380 median Middle half $59,820–$78,680 10th–90th $47,750–$89,510
$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k$100k$110k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Home health care agencies
$59,110
$68,230
$80,050
$91,750
$102,080
All industries
$47,750
$59,820
$68,380
$78,680
$89,510
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Follows a PT's plan closely and knows which changes mean calling the PT
Charts plain facts such as distance walked, help needed and vital signs, without guessing at causes
Teaches a spouse or aide a safe transfer in a cramped bedroom
Keeps a daily route on time and calls ahead when running late
Stays calm when a patient is dizzy, in pain or upset about slow progress
Teach these on the job
Your EMR's visit note and how to flag a change for the PT
The vital-sign limits and stop rules written into each patient's plan of care
Your state's PTA supervision rules and your policy on them
The home exercise handouts or app your agency uses
Working with aides on shared cases
PTAs chart each treatment on a tablet in the agency EMR and reach the supervising PT by secure message or phone. They carry a gait belt, a cuff and a pulse oximeter, plus resistance bands and printed home exercise sheets to leave behind.
Home health physical therapist assistant interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Use your recent visit counts and chart audits to set each target. Share the monthly report with the PTA and the supervising PT at the same meeting.
PT visits completed at the ordered frequency
Visits made divided by visits the plan of care orders on the PTA's cases, by week. Read the reasons for misses, such as hospital stays, refusals or open slots, and fix the ones you control.
PTA notes finished the same day
Share of PTA visit notes signed before the end of the visit day. A late note leaves the PT working from old information at the next reassessment.
Changes reported to the supervising PT the same day
Pull a sample of notes that record a fall, new pain or vital signs outside the plan's limits. Check each one for a call or message to the PT logged that day.
Home exercise programs updated as directed
When the PT changes the exercise program, check that the patient's sheet or app matches it by the next PTA visit. Spot-check this during chart reviews.
Career path
PTA in a clinic or skilled nursing facilityLearns to treat from a PT's plan with help close by.
Physical Therapist AssistantTreats patients at home under a PT's plan and supervision.
Lead PTA or field trainerRides along with new PTAs and helps the Scheduler plan therapy routes.
Physical therapistSome PTAs go back to school to become physical therapists.
Yes. The federal Occupational Outlook Handbook says all states require PTAs to be licensed or certified. That usually means graduating from an accredited PTA program and passing a qualifying exam. Some states add a law exam. Medicare's rule asks for a CAPTE-accredited program, a passed national exam, and state licensure, registration or certification where it applies. Check your state board before you make an offer.
How much does a home health physical therapist assistant make?
Physical therapist assistants who work for home health care agencies earned a median of $38.49 an hour ($80,050 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $68,230 and $91,750 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Can a PTA see a patient before the PT's evaluation?
No. Medicare has the PT do the first functional assessment, and state rules add steps of their own. Virginia's rule has the PT make the first patient visit to evaluate and set the plan of care. The PTA's first visit comes only after the PT has briefed them on the patient, out loud or in writing, and the record notes it. Texas bars PTA treatment until the PT's evaluation and plan of care are done.
Does a joint visit with the supervising PT count as two visits?
Usually not. Medicare's manual says that when two people are present but only one is needed for the care, only one visit may be covered. Its example is an OT who comes along to supervise an OT assistant. If the care truly needs two people, two visits may be covered. And if the PT treats in the morning and the PTA comes back later, that is two visits.
What work history suits a home health PTA?
The template prefers home health, skilled nursing or outpatient work. Skilled nursing PTAs are used to frail patients, and outpatient PTAs are used to running a full day. In the interview, ask what the candidate did the last time a patient's blood pressure was off before a session, and how they reached the PT.
