Covenant Health

Clinical Specialist Physical Therapy

PRN/OCC, Variable hours, Day shift

Covenant Health Therapy Centers Overview:

Covenant Health Therapy Centers consist of 12 outpatient therapy clinics in East Tennessee. The West Knoxville clinic is located on the Fort Sanders West campus. Covenant Health Therapy Centers provide exceptional speech therapy services including:  auditory comprehension, memory skills, reading comprehension, oral-motor integrity, voice skills, swallowing, cognitive-communicative status, verbal expression, speech characteristics, written expression, augmentative/alternative communication. 

Physical Therapy:

The Physical Therapy Department provides care to patients in all areas of the hospital including the medical and orthopedic units and is very involved in the Early Mobilization program in our Critical Care Unit.  We also serve patients in the Senior Behavioral Health Unit (SBU) treating geriatric patients that have varied diagnoses ranging from cognitive/behavioral disorders to dementia.

The PT Department operates 7 days a week from 7:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., with some later evening hours on weekdays to accommodate day of surgery orthopedic patients. There are two PT Departments; one is located on the 5th floor of the Montvue Tower to serve our medical patients and one on the 3^rd floor of the new Dogwood Tower to serve the orthopedic patients.  Both PT Departments have full bathrooms with safety equipment installed as well as practice stairs for patients that will be going home and have steps to navigate. Our PT Department is very family-oriented and thrives on teamwork and collaboration. We have a department of over 35 PTs and PTAs that have a variety of experience from one year to over thirty.  Our staff sees patients with a wide variety of diagnoses including neuro, vestibular, vascular, cardiac and orthopedic. It is a fast-paced, high energy environment working with a variety of practitioners and medical staff to provide excellent care for all of the patients we serve.

Position Summary:

Under general direction, plans, evaluates and implements treatment programs for physical therapy patients. While maintaining a patient load, assumes additional responsibility of program development, staff training and orientation, and consultation in area of expertise for fellow staff members.

Recruiter: Kathleen Rice || kkarnes@covhlth.com || 865-374-5386

• Advanced clinical practice – including evaluation and specialized treatment of patients.
  • Performs patient evaluations (initial, progress, and discharge evaluations), establishes treatment plans, makes recommendations, and sets goals in accordance with patient needs and evidence based practice.
  • Ensures timely completion of all CMS documentation requirements ie FIMs and QRP.
  • Involves patient and family in treatment, education and goal setting. Coordinates with other medical personnel regarding patient’s progress, needs and discharge planning.
  • Demonstrates knowledge and competency including providing for age-specific needs of the population served.
• Serves as resource person for staff and senior staff on an ongoing basis.
  • Provides 8 hours education/mentorship time per year. This includes:
    • Peer counseling /Mentorship
    • Community lectures/Volunteer
    • Orientation of new staff in area of specialty
    • Inservices/Case Studies
    • Lunch and Learns
  • Development, implementation and evaluation of standards of care and evidence based practice:
    • Evidence base practice protocols
    • Clinical outcomes analysis and communication to team
    • New policy development
    • QI/QA
• Maintains and updates patient documentation in accordance with professional, departmental, organizational, and payer guidelines and timeframes. Maintains established targets for compliance with chart audits.
• Meets established targets for:
  • Quality/outcome measures
  • Service/patient satisfaction measures
  • Financial/productivity measures
  • Growth/patients-per-day measures
• Demonstrates leadership, including but not limited to:
  • Development and implementation of new and current programs.
  • Participates in training, orientation and supervision of support staff.
  • Participates in orientation of new licensed staff in area of specialty
  • Acts as Clinical Instructor for at least one student per year as available.
  • Participates in peer evaluations for competency assessment.
  • Assists with continuing education courses hosted by Covenant Health.
  • Participates in professional organization/meetings (TPTA, APTA)
  • Volunteers for Covenant Health activities such as the marathon, golf tournament, sports physicals, employee education, etc.
• Complete partnering activities per established targets per month.
  • Physician office visits
  • Community lectures/volunteer
  • Case Manager visits/marketing
  • Provide in-services
• Follows policies, procedures, and safety standards. Completes required education assignments annually. Works toward achieving goals and objectives, and participates in quality improvement initiatives as requested.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Education           

None specified; however, must be sufficient to meet the standards for achievement of the below indicated license and/or certification as required by the issuing authority.

Minimum Experience          

Four (4) years of experience with a minimum of three (3) years in specialty area.

Licensure Requirement:      

Must have and maintain Tennessee State Physical Therapy Licensure, with achievement of at least one of the following at time of hire or placement in the position:

• • • • • • • • • Advanced degree in specialty area
                • Advanced degree associated with specialty area
                • Professionally recognized certification in specialty area
                • 100 hours (10.0 CEU’s) of continued education