physical therapist

physical therapist assistant

accounts receivable clerk

physical therapy aide

front office manager

Foothills Sports Medicine Physical Therapy

I opened in the morning at 6am. I would get all the closing paperwork sent out from the day before and then proceed to get the schedule ready for the day ahead. I made sure all the new patient packets were ready to go when the patients came in. I answered phone calls while doing this also.  I made appointments for our patients and made sure that their following appointments were still going to work for them. I worked in the office. I sat at the very front by the door, my position was called "the hot seat." For the first two hours I was working on my own.  After a while other office coworkers would come in.  

I learned how to register patients, schedule them and build their files in our computer systems.  I learned a little about verifying benefits but I mostly explained the benefits (co-pays, payments towards their deductibles and also co-ins)  The techs at this clinic were awesome and helpful when I first started they were very patient and sometimes in the morning when the phones were all ringing they would help me answer them. The management was not a professional group of people.  Things were always passed down to others when it would have been just as easy for 1 person to fix. That part was the hardest part of my job. I am a person who like to follow through as far as I can for my patients and I want them to know that I will get their questions answered for them.

The most enjoyable part of my job was definitly my patients. Most patients came in 2-3 times a week and I got to know all of my morning patients very well.  I would know what was going on in their lives and sometimes I was that hug they needed that day. It amazed me that people coming to a physical therapy clinc in pay were always in such a great mood and so happy to see me, seeing as not everyone wants to be getting up early to endure some therapy. The social interaction between patients was the most enjoyable part for me.

Depending on the day of the week it can be very fast paced from 8am-12pm and 3pm-6pm Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's. Tuesday, Thursday is slower due to select therapist having the day off. On the busy days a typical workday consists of bringing patients back to selected work bench and have them start on exercises at their given appointment times. The clinic is heavily reliant on communication and being aware of who is starting exercises, receiving therapy, and who is almost finished, and who may need help with select exercise. To thrive in this environment having the ability to multitask and know the exercise administered by the physical therapist is a must. Although it may be hectic at times when busy the workplace culture and atmosphere surrounding the clinic is always positive. We are helping individuals each day get better with each visit and take pride helping individuals achieve their goals on the road to recovery. I have gained the ability to communicate with many different individuals which has improved my customer service skills and establishing long lasting connections with patients.
The hardest part about being a tech is learning the different types of exercises and the constantly changing of old exercises from each therapist. Communicating with the therapist is very important when trying to explain an exercise to a new patient. One exercise that could work for one patient could be very different for another patient. Having the ability to intake constructive criticism when needed may be one of the hardest when first starting but in the long run you are learning. It is all a part of the process and can't be easily discouraged.
The most enjoyable part about working at Foothills is the individuals I have meet while working here. Many of whom I have had classes with during my time at ASU and the bonds I have created with the Physical Therapist have truly made it enjoyable to come back to work every day.

The therapists and the technicians were so welcoming and friendly, they make you feel like you belong with the company. I'm so disappointed that this job didn't work and this was all due to the TERRIBLE management of this facility. I have never had a manager be so unhelpful and disrespectful. From not training properly, to accusations of lying and violating company policy. I've never experienced such an isolated hostile environment. The front office staff never makes you feel like you belong there so I would sit and work by myself left out of 95% of conversations. And God forbid I ask for help with something. "I'm not going to help you. You know the answer." is often this response I would get to asking a question, mind you I was there less than two months and had no insurance training until 30 days in. And I wouldn't even call that training. The patients and the therapists are what kept me going as long as I could handle.. but when it came down to me having the flu and being told that "You look fine to me. I think you're just overwhelmed." I couldn't take anymore after that (and that's not even the half of it!) I started off with this company hoping to move up and pursue my Physical Therapist career, but I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone now. You would think that me being the 3rd person to quit without notice before their two months is a sign but obviously they still don't get that management is a huge problem there.

The days can get hard sometimes which is when it is important to communicate with the team/therapists if you are overwhelmed or need help. I think some things the company should improve on is not being afraid to pay their employees. We do not have sick time, and technicians barely make PTO. We are consistently "understaffed" because there is caution about having "too many" technicians scheduled, and yet every day it feels like we do not have enough people scheduled, which leads to burn out and exhaustion.
Other than the cons, I think all of us stay with this company because we love the people. Our clinical director is one of the greatest bosses I've ever met, and he is so accommodating and supportive of everyone's goals. He is always searching on how to improve and wants to build a relationship with you, so you feel comfortable. The schedule is also very flexible, and they are always very accommodating to your needs (especially since most of us are in school and need certain days blocked off). Last but not least, the patients are wonderful. We have so much fun and they are super motivated to be here! The therapists and other technicians are some of my good friends, and are very grateful for us/each other. I would recommend this place to a friend who is in need of a job.

When I first got hired the manager was nice and helpful. Training was a little hard because I was thrown into the fire. However, this did make me learn faster. Whenever I had a question about something most people were willing to help. As time went on the manager would bad mouth the employees if they did something wrong instead of talking to them in private and fixing the situation.  Often times the manager would come to work in a bad mood which would make the other employees have to walk around egg shells with her. We would have meetings on how to improve the flow of the clinic because we were so behind and there was paperwork everywhere. She would act like she would take what we said into consideration and then a few days later change everything and not tell the whole team so if you didn’t know you were talked down to and penalized for not knowing. As the manager it was her job to make sure everyone new what was going on. On top of that, we had to do many tasks while checking in/out patients and expected to get everything done before the end of your shift. Closers beware, you will get everyone’s work given to you if they did not finish in time and are expected to complete it along with yours. Stay away!

As a front office employee, the hours are nice. I don't have to work weekends and overtime is not expected. The feel in the office is positive and friendly, with the therapists being kind and appreciative of the front office staff. The patients are great to work with, and I never have any issues with being mistreated by them (which says a lot, having worked in customer service for several years). The co-directors at the location I am at are always willing to listen to concerns or ideas, and seem to genuinely care about their staff. 

The workload is heavy, yes. But I like to be busy and expect to work when at work, so I don't have a problem with it. 

The training has room to improve, as after spending two days at corporate learning the computer system, it is then left up to the staff to train you - while they get all their normal work done. This opens everyone up to errors, and a lack of consistency in training styles. 

Benefits are good! I am very happy with the health benefits and the amount of PTO accrued each pay period. However, using your accrued PTO is very difficult, as the team is small, so one person being out definitely has an impact.

Overall I am happy to go to work every day. It is fair pay for the job I am doing... I walk in AND leave smiling each day. Not a bad deal, if you ask me!

Foothills physical therapy is a PT mill, meaning they prioritize numbers and profit over patient care. The more patients they can get in the door, regardless of care, the more money they make. As a PT technician, you are tasked with doing the majority of the work with the patients by guiding them through a large amount of exercises (because the more exercises the patient does, the more foothills can bill to their insurance) answering questions,  making home exercise programs, cleaning equipment, bathrooms, and general custodial duties. During busy hours, you may be working with up to 7 patients at a time. You won’t have time to actually correct their form on any exercises, much less get feedback from them about whether an exercises is hurting them. As a PT technician, we shouldn’t even be working with patients to that extent but we are expected to at foothills so that the PT can see as many patients as possible. Foothills overuses their techs so that they can schedule too many patients and make as much money as possible. 

Broken promises , lies , runaround , emails are unprofessional , management ignores staffs needs & emails .”close knit” but not actually for you .If you enjoy being left alone at a clinic multitasking x1000 ,while Regionals work from home and Micromanage with long emails of screenshots and highlighted areas where you need corrections of PREVIOUS mistakes from people prior to you . Billing and insurance for new patients are NEVER on time without structure . Also, If you enjoy being underpaid , overworked , being compensated the very minimum BUT get “bonuses” that in retrospect calculate to what you should actually be getting paid … your overly exhausting work doesn’t get noticed unless you’re hitting numbers . If there isn’t coverage you do what’s best for the company … CULTURE is a joke while everyone smiles in your face and pretends to be helpful, your regionals will in fact talk about you to other leadership / management . This is why healthcare workers leave .  HIGHER Management cough cough staff look money hungry and micromanage . ADVOCATE FOR MORE MONEY THAN THEY OFFER YOU.  They only care for themselves. 

I worked in the Phoenix area as a physical therapist for Foothills.
While my colleagues were excellent therapists, the overall office dynamic was taxing. Employees frequently criticized and gossiped about even the best therapists and techs behind their backs. Technicians  were disrespectful and the therapists had very little say regarding their schedule. There were several gray areas where I felt the company compromised the integrity of my license, without my consent. Despite my vehement objection, I sometimes was quadruple booked while treating Max-assist, fall-risk Medicare patients. Technicians without adequate training were allowed to do skilled transfers for my dangerously vulnerable patients. Athletic trainers were encouraged to remove acupuncture needles. Trainers had patients on their schedules that were clearly out of their scope of practice (patients joint replacements with excessive pain and signs of delayed healing...)  In short, many of the other therapists were wonderful but the overall work experience was subpar.

Since I have started my job here as a staff physical therapist, I have since had 2 children and both times I have felt so supported by my coworkers, my boss and the HR department. Some days can feel overwhelming with young kids at home but my coworkers are understanding and have no problem jumping in to help in whatever way they can or is needed. And that goes for anyone we work with and whatever life events may be occurring. We have each others' backs every day. We are a busy and popular clinic and I feel I have learned how to better manage my time not only with work but when at home as well. The culture here is to be a family and work as a team. Which is how we as physical therapists should try to be as we are treating humans and not robots. I feel we do a great job at building rapport with the community and be able to treat patients per their specific problems and get them better to achieve their goals. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Physical therapist 102 salaries reported	$92,966 per year
Physical therapist assistant 27 salaries reported	$28.61 per hour
Accounts receivable clerk 6 salaries reported	$19.92 per hour
Physical therapy aide 4 salaries reported	$15.50 per hour
Front office manager 3 salaries reported	$46,093 per year

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