Rehabilitation agencies provide physical and occupational therapy, speech and language services, and social or vocational adjustment services in an outpatient setting to individuals with disabilities or impairments with the goal of upgrading their physical functioning.
Rehabilitation services are provided in rehabilitation agencies by physical and occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, social workers and vocational counselors. Each patient has a written plan of care for services that include diagnosis and prognosis of condition and a treatment regime intended to enhance and increase a patient's functional abilities.
Along with providing services, rehabilitation agencies are responsible for maintaining treatment equipment, a sanitary and comfortable treatment environment and confidentiality of clinical records.
Rehabilitation agencies are not licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but may be certified for participation in the federal Medicare program. Medicare pays for services provided by Certified Rehabilitation Agencies who voluntarily seek and are approved for certification by the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS contracts with the Pennsylvania Department of Health to evaluate compliance with the federal rehabilitation regulations by periodically conducting unannounced surveys of these agencies.