Other OT-Related Information Highest Paying OT Speciality?

[keyboardmouse]

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How much do hand therapists make?

I think thats the highest paying speciality in OT, but also the hardest to get a speciality in because of that certification exam.

 

[Sunny324]

How much do hand therapists make?

I think thats the highest paying speciality in OT, but also the hardest to get a speciality in because of that certification exam.

This page has a link to some salary data broken down by setting: http://occupational-therapy.advanceweb.com/Web-Extras/Online-Extras/OT-Salary-Survey-Results.aspx

Salary will be based on supply and demand. Jobs that are more demanding, require specialized skills, or in a location with fewer OTs will make more. Jobs that are less stressful, require fewer specialized skills, and are in a location with a lot of OTs will pay less. Obviously setting matters too but it's not the only factor.

 

[alg5443]

I think home health and SNF usually pay the highest, but it also depends on experience, location, ect.

 

[sb0106]

My dad works in healthcare with many PT's, OT's, etc. After talking with them he advised me to become a certified hand specialist. They all said hand therapy is where the money is. It is more comparable to PT's and their salary. I shadowed at a hand center that had all OT hand specialists and I learned that OT hand specialists perform essentially the same tasks that PT's do. It is the only part of OT where it is indistinguishable from PT. The only thing that separates it is the paperwork, basically. So it is definitely something I will consider.

 

[lcs2074]

My dad works in healthcare with many PT's, OT's, etc. After talking with them he advised me to become a certified hand specialist. They all said hand therapy is where the money is. It is more comparable to PT's and their salary. I shadowed at a hand center that had all OT hand specialists and I learned that OT hand specialists perform essentially the same tasks that PT's do. It is the only part of OT where it is indistinguishable from PT. The only thing that separates it is the paperwork, basically. So it is definitely something I will consider.

One thing to consider with hand therapy is that there is a lot of additional work you need to do to become a hand therapist. I don't recall the specifics, but there are several years worth of hours experience you need post OT school and licensure before you can even take the exam to become a certified hand therapist. It does seem to be mostly OTs in this area, though PTs can go into this specialty as well and the process/requirements are the same. Because you need so many hrs of experience, a hand therapist I shadowed told me its highly reconmended to do a fieldwork in that setting to attain some of those hours if you think you may want to go in that direction.

 

[resot]

One thing to consider with hand therapy is that there is a lot of additional work you need to do to become a hand therapist. I don't recall the specifics, but there are several years worth of hours experience you need post OT school and licensure before you can even take the exam to become a certified hand therapist. It does seem to be mostly OTs in this area, though PTs can go into this specialty as well and the process/requirements are the same. Because you need so many hrs of experience, a hand therapist I shadowed told me its highly reconmended to do a fieldwork in that setting to attain some of those hours if you think you may want to go in that direction.

I'm not sure if it varies state to state (I'm in CA), but I was specifically told that hours you complete in fieldwork do NOT count towards the total needed to become a CHT because you are still a student when you are completing those hours and not a registered therapist. Completing a FW will still give you a head start in the area because you will be more knowledgeable and already have an idea of what you are getting yourself in to (hand therapy is not for everyone), but we can't count those hours unfortunately.

 

[sb0106]

In general physical therapists make more money. If you wanna make more as an ot be a hand specialist. I've been told by my dad and basically all his colleagues in the medical field to do pt, more money, more opportunities, bla bla. But I'm sticking with ot. That's all I'm saying... That pts make more money and have he opportunity to go up in salary more. Just going by people in the field around philly anyways.

 

[sb0106]

Haha I don't have salary stats, just going by what people in the field near me say. At least for these people, pts make more. At least around me, pts make more. At least in my dad's company, pts make more. Lol. Not arguing either. Don't you wonder why 90% people go for pt as opposed to ot? In my pre health program, very few were planning on pursuing ot. A few thousand dollars is not much but hey it means in general they make more.

 

[Otsunshine56]

Haha I don't have salary stats, just going by what people in the field near me say. At least for these people, pts make more. At least around me, pts make more. At least in my dad's company, pts make more. Lol. Not arguing either. Don't you wonder why 90% people go for pt as opposed to ot? In my pre health program, very few were planning on pursuing ot. A few thousand dollars is not much but hey it means in general they make more.

And the more people who go into PT, the harder it will be to find work and the less PT's will make on the whole.

I talked with a PT when I was looking into OT, and she said PT as a field was not a good one right now. She's making less than she did 10 years ago, and appointments are harder to come by. I think that having the flexibility to work with psychological impediments helps OT's in the long run. Averages don't reflect actual salaries, but approximate them. PT's have less options after entering the field, but OT's can choose less pay for an arguably easier accommodation (like a school setting), or more pay for more stress (like an SNF). If you lump in PRN work, an OT can easily make more than a PT. It's just not as cut and dry as looking at the averages.

 

[sb0106]

Yeah I know! One of the reasons why I picked OT was bc everyone was going into pt. I mean getting into ot school is hard enough, getting into or school must be so much harder

 

[keyboardmouse]

In general physical therapists make more money. If you wanna make more as an ot be a hand specialist. I've been told by my dad and basically all his colleagues in the medical field to do pt, more money, more opportunities, bla bla. But I'm sticking with ot. That's all I'm saying... That pts make more money and have he opportunity to go up in salary more. Just going by people in the field around philly anyways.

make more as a hand specialist? How kuch are you talking about when you say "more"?

And does anybody know the hand therapist salary ceiling? Not a lot of data available online.

 

[ExceptionalSea]

i volunteered with a hand therapist and we discussed salary some. it was hard for me to tell whether her high salary was from her mega amounts of experience (i would guess she's been in the OT field 20-25+ years) or from her being a hand therapist. by the way she viewed it, she didn't make any more money than other OTs with the same years of experience as her. so my guess is she probably only made $3,000-$5,000 more than a general OT. the salary data is hard to follow but from what i've turned up in research it sounds like what's reported is about the same.

i spoke with my advisor who told me that in my region PTs and OTs start with roughly similar starting salaries and over time PTs may begin to make several thousand a year more than an OT (he actually emphasized to me that this difference was small and not to take it into account when choosing my path, like the aforementioned $3,000-$5,000 difference). however, he did tell me that in the long run (meaning very experienced) PTs can more easily hit a higher salary in the six-figures, while OTs tend to hit a glass ceiling that that won't let them get much above the $100k mark (this is in my region, NOT all regions). so yes, PTs can make more money and it is easier for them to command higher salaries after many years of experience.

other than that, i have no other insight to this discussion. carry on!

 

[Otsunshine56]

i volunteered with a hand therapist and we discussed salary some. it was hard for me to tell whether her high salary was from her mega amounts of experience (i would guess she's been in the OT field 20-25+ years) or from her being a hand therapist. by the way she viewed it, she didn't make any more money than other OTs with the same years of experience as her. so my guess is she probably only made $3,000-$5,000 more than a general OT. the salary data is hard to follow but from what i've turned up in research it sounds like what's reported is about the same.

i spoke with my advisor who told me that in my region PTs and OTs start with roughly similar starting salaries and over time PTs may begin to make several thousand a year more than an OT (he actually emphasized to me that this difference was small and not to take it into account when choosing my path, like the aforementioned $3,000-$5,000 difference). however, he did tell me that in the long run (meaning very experienced) PTs can more easily hit a higher salary in the six-figures, while OTs tend to hit a glass ceiling that that won't let them get much above the $100k mark (this is in my region, NOT all regions). so yes, PTs can make more money and it is easier for them to command higher salaries after many years of experience.

other than that, i have no other insight to this discussion. carry on!

Wow! So an OT can actually break into 6 figures? I didn't realize that...I thought those earners were more like administrators than practitioners. Is that on a 40-45 hr/wk schedule, or does that include doing PRN and whatnot?

 

[keyboardmouse]

Wow! So an OT can actually break into 6 figures? I didn't realize that...I thought those earners were more like administrators than practitioners. Is that on a 40-45 hr/wk schedule, or does that include doing PRN and whatnot?

I thought an OT could easily break it by being an independent contractor and what not.

I actually knew an OT who was earning in the six figures but was working 50+ hours..

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

I'll give my two cents when I get to work, but I'll do my best to give you guys the real life nitty gritty of OT and money. I think I covered the six figure issue in another thread, and I'll link that here.

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

This was my previous write up in another thread in regards to six figures (and how one can realistically achieve it in OT):

Hey there! I'm an OT over here in Maryland - I'm here to tell you that it is certainly possible to break six figures as an OT...however, it's entirely dependent upon either how hard you want to work, or either how skilled you are as a clinician.

In my experience as a clinician, there is two ways to do it; I've done both methods, and I'll tell you my subjective experiences with both.

1. The first method has already been mentioned: PRN on weekends on top of a regular full time job. I did this my first two years of practice because, like you, I was neurotic about money and concerned with building my finances to support my steadily rising financial demands after grad school. There are pros to this method, actually (in fact, my PRN experiences were a decisive factor into the second method in which to break six figures):

• Working many PRN facilities grants you exposure to multiple types of settings. Not only does this help you become a more knowledgeable therapist, but it also looks fantastic on a resume and inflates your experience in the field past a somewhat arbitrary measurement of just "years practicing"...and therefore can inflate your objective worth for future jobs.
• Working PRN improves your time management skills out of necessity and survival. It may give you the chance to become a more adaptive, flexible, and "instinctual" therapist - these qualities are absolutely necessary to secure higher level, higher pay management positions (or perhaps to prove to a future employer that you're fit for that kind of work).
• Working PRN is instant gratification with little executive meddling. If you're autonomous enough to want to work weekends to begin with, then you're most likely the kind of person who doesn't really need supervision and also appreciates the $55-$60 an hour that you get under your own direction.

There are cons, though:

• You will eventually burn out. Weekend PRN takes a lot of energy. When I was 23 just getting out of school, I had plenty of energy to burn. I did it for two years and I assure you that it dug into my relationship life, my free time, my hobbies and my interests. I truly deluded myself into believing that I would not survive without the PRN work.
• You will become an OT mercenary. While you will be able to leverage salaries, hours, and patients between facilities and feel "in control", you WILL be guilt tripped and bullied into working weekend hours...and sometimes even evening hours, after your full-time job ends for the day. You will be put into situations where you are over-scheduled, or perhaps even sticky situations that flirt with the precipice of ethics. Facilities will not always honor your requests for working only an X amount of hours. You WILL be taken advantage of, and you signed up for this.
• PRN jobs can and will "let you go" for whatever reason without even having to fire you. If the facility is short on staff and you're presently profiting off of it, your hours will spontaneously be cut (or yanked entirely) if they hire another PRN OT (especially PRN COTAs, who are very valuable!) or they fill the staff gap with a full timer. Always have a spare PRN job to back yourself up and hope it doesn't happen again, because some day the calls for your help may someday go silent from whatever PRN job you're at.
• You will get destroyed at tax time when your PRN company signs you on as a "contractor" to reduce their tax liability. One company I did PRN work with for about 6 months ended up singlehandedly costing me $1500 (!) in taxes in April. I ended up having to pay back multiple weekends of work.

In the short term right after graduating, this is really the only option you have. It WILL make you a better clinician, however you will have to make sacrifices to make it work.

I'll talk a little about the second method in the next post.

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

Continued:

The second method is the full time route, which is what you're probably generalizing and expecting. Every OT thinks that they deserve a cushy six figure salary, but there's really one big barrier to making bigger shinies:

Insurance reimbursement.

Clinicians are in the somewhat poor place where they are universally paid by the left over reimbursement from the patients they see - after management, the insurance company/Medicare/Medicaid and so on take their share first. In short, what this means is that as a clinician, your salary is by large determined by how much insurance is reimbursing your services. Those numbers are generally stabilized and capped...here in Maryland, I believe CPT codes for ADL/ther-ex/ther-act/NMR etc. go roughly for $35-$45 per unit. The more units, the more you get paid...to an extent. While you may see more patients in an SNF, there are generally more administrative fingers in the honey pot. Hospital acute inpatient jobs generally pay less, for example, because you're seeing less patients. The only way around this is to either see more patients...

...Or to move into a position that isn't universally reimbursed by insurance reimbursement - positions that have salaries that are directly funded by the company you're working for. These are management positions, generally.

Presently, I am a manager and a clinical specialist in Myofasical Pain Management for the upper extremity...my job is about 80% clinical and 20% management of a couple assistants, techs, and a handful of therapists who, for the most part, manage their own caseloads independently. I work in the outpatient setting doing this and I see generally 45-52 patients a week. I earn, presently, $125,200 - this does not count the certain bonuses, reimbursements, and such that I get from my managerial status for the company that I work for; as my management responsibilities increase, so will my pay by my company. Sadly, our hardest working clinicians who decide to remain solely clinicians cap off at $92k (which is still impressive), but on average see about $86k a year.

In short? Hone your skills universally. Work for a higher salary. I truly believe that the only way I was able to step into this role was proving myself with my resume, my work history and allowing that, along with some self confidence, to speak for my adaptability, flexibility, and worth as a clinician. Like anything in life, nothing that is worth anything comes easily...but truly, a short burst of hard work now will save you from a life time of hard work, seemingly dead end SNF jobs, and finally...

It may help you find something in this profession more valuable to you than money 😉

-Dan

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

As for the highest paying field within OT? Well now, that really all depends on if you're talking strictly clinical or no - as outlined above, there are different rules that apply to payment when it comes to clinical vs. management. Considering that many of you are still plugging away at your degree, I'll make the assumption that this question is geared clinically since management positions are generally out of reach for new grads until you reach certain experience criterion.

I've worked practically everywhere. I started in acute inpatient hospital, did psych on the side; I did outpatient othro/neuro; I did so many subacute jobs that I honestly cannot count how many SNFs I've graced; I've worked pediatrics and autism; I've worked acute rehab; I've worked home therapy; I did a little bit of educating; presently, and what I've come to love and specialize in is upper extremity pain management (cervical and thoracic spine, shoulder, arm, hand) as a myofasical pain specialist working in hands. Out of allllllll of those (excluding management titles)...

• SNFs generally pay very well. Prepare to work your butt off though to meet borderline unrealistic productivity standards. (anywhere between 70-80K starting)
• Home Health (especially PRN pools) pay a lot of money. A established hospital system in MD will pay their home health OTs $90 per eval and $75 per treatment. I hope you have a good car! (depends on caseloads, but a clever therapist can clean up if they're lucky)
• Outpatient is a mixed bag. The pay is not so great if you work through a hospital system. Its fantastic if you find a private clinic (which is where I am now, where I earn roughly $125,000 but keep in mind that I am management and clinical; starts between 60-70K)
• Acute inpatient hospital is AWESOME as a first job (you will learn so much that you will skyrocket beyond your peers) but the money is not particularly great (starts at 55K).
• Pediatrics just doesn't pay well unless you own a clinic for it. Historically, its the lowest paying option. (I've seen starts at 45k).
• Hand therapy takes 5 years of experience , lots of documentation to support that fact, and a spiritually trying certification exam. It does pay well (starting, at lowest I've ever seen, 85k. It usually is much more than that).

In any field, hard work and consistency will eventually net you more money. The money will come with time, but I assure you that experience and confidence is what will set you apart...and will be the decisive factor in achieving the universal dream of six figures.

EDIT: Just keep in mind that the figures I posted for starting are just that - they're low ball starting figures that generally indicate the lowest you should expect to be paid as a new grad. Many times, you may be paid more than that; you should not accept a job that offers you lower than the figures I posted to be brutally forward.

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

Also, OT and PT generally get paid the exact same and are regarded with the same amount of professional and clinical respect. In fact, due to present demand and the structure (read: typo in part B reimbursement legislation, God bless that comma), OTs end up getting paid MORE than PTs due to having DOUBLE the amount of medicare B funding as PT.

 

[coolrunnins]

As for the highest paying field within OT? Well now, that really all depends on if you're talking strictly clinical or no - as outlined above, there are different rules that apply to payment when it comes to clinical vs. management. Considering that many of you are still plugging away at your degree, I'll make the assumption that this question is geared clinically since management positions are generally out of reach for new grads until you reach certain experience criterion.

I've worked practically everywhere. I started in acute inpatient hospital, did psych on the side; I did outpatient othro/neuro; I did so many subacute jobs that I honestly cannot count how many SNFs I've graced; I've worked pediatrics and autism; I've worked acute rehab; I've worked home therapy; I did a little bit of educating; presently, and what I've come to love and specialize in is upper extremity pain management (cervical and thoracic spine, shoulder, arm, hand) as a myofasical pain specialist working in hands. Out of allllllll of those (excluding management titles)...

• SNFs generally pay very well. Prepare to work your butt off though to meet borderline unrealistic productivity standards. (anywhere between 70-80K starting)
• Home Health (especially PRN pools) pay a lot of money. A established hospital system in MD will pay their home health OTs $90 per eval and $75 per treatment. I hope you have a good car! (depends on caseloads, but a clever therapist can clean up if they're lucky)
• Outpatient is a mixed bag. The pay is not so great if you work through a hospital system. Its fantastic if you find a private clinic (which is where I am now, where I earn roughly $125,000 but keep in mind that I am management and clinical; starts between 60-70K)
• Acute inpatient hospital is AWESOME as a first job (you will learn so much that you will skyrocket beyond your peers) but the money is not particularly great (starts at 55K).
• Pediatrics just doesn't pay well unless you own a clinic for it. Historically, its the lowest paying option. (I've seen starts at 45k).
• Hand therapy takes 5 years of experience , lots of documentation to support that fact, and a spiritually trying certification exam. It does pay well (starting, at lowest I've ever seen, 85k. It usually is much more than that).

In any field, hard work and consistency will eventually net you more money. The money will come with time, but I assure you that experience and confidence is what will set you apart...and will be the decisive factor in achieving the universal dream of six figures.

EDIT: Just keep in mind that the figures I posted for starting are just that - they're low ball starting figures that generally indicate the lowest you should expect to be paid as a new grad. Many times, you may be paid more than that; you should not accept a job that offers you lower than the figures I posted to be brutally forward.

Again, Dan Thank you. I commented likewise on a similar post you made a few days ago. You just obviously have the knowledge to give guidance holistically not just about salary numbers but about what areas will help achieve what with your career. I'm not so keen on SNF or peds so acute rehab as a new grad sounds good to me. I don't LOVE the somewhat mediocre starting salary as I made more than that in consulting before I decided to go back to OT school, but that is all part of the hope that OT will be a more rewarding and better fit career for me. Again, very very much appreciated advice!

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

Of course 🙂 I just know that all through out school and the beginning of my career, I was never given any real life guidance...unless you count the over exaggeration of salary and "sunshine and rainbows" perspective professors tend to give you. I remember what it's like to be in your shoes, and I want you guys to be educated and aware so you guys can take full advantage of being an OT.

I know the figures starting can seem kind of low. It's a big shock to those who were told throughout school by professors that you'll be earning tons of money off the bat, especially. As well, OTs just aren't really explained in a real life sense all of the options they have in front of them (no one ever explains PRN, or physical agent modality training (PAMS) for example).

A lot of the real life, pragmatic perspective that new grads need is just out of reach because of the tiny box that course work (and fieldwork) puts you in; I've been through all of the interviews, been hired at dozens of places that promise dozens of different things (wether or not they delivered, through...); I've been laid off, I've even been fired from a position. I've been though the gamut of clinical interests (prosthetics, to neuro, to psych, to ortho, to upper extremity pain), I've been through the continuing education and the seminars, I've been behind the scenes and under the hood of just how the system works. I've sat in the student chair, and I've stood in front of the class before teaching the very same information. Goodness, and I don't like to think that I'm that old.

So, by all means - ask anything and I'll do my best to give you the best answer possible. I want everyone here on this forum to succeed...and even fail, so they can discover, explore, and love every new option that they will inevitably end up succeeding in.

 

[ExceptionalSea]

thanks again for the info dan. it's nice to have someone who actually knows the field give us solid advice. i had also heard that an acute in-patient hospital job is great for gaining experience, so i'm glad you mentioned that.

also glad you mentioned the medicare tidbit, very interesting info! thanks so much!

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

Once again, no problem guys! It's nice to be able to talk to people who are involved in OT - it's a great outlet for me and it does give me perspective to hear so many of your thoughts.

I'm really thinking of opening a thread to field any and all questions any of us may have about any aspect of OT, clinically, academically, or no. Hopefully, the interest would be there!

 

[mgeagle]

Once again, no problem guys! It's nice to be able to talk to people who are involved in OT - it's a great outlet for me and it does give me perspective to hear so many of your thoughts.

I'm really thinking of opening a thread to field any and all questions any of us may have about any aspect of OT, clinically, academically, or no. Hopefully, the interest would be there!

Dan you are amazing and being a dude headed to OT next school I must say I appreciate how refreshing it is to hear a perspective of the field from a guy cause that is usual not the case lol. I do have a few things I wanted clarified though if you don't mind, so my goal is to specialize in geriatrics (and eventually the neuro side of things), work in a SNF cause I LOVE THAT SETTING (the elderly are awesome!!!!) and I want to do a full-time job and prn for weekends as well. Would it be possible for me to do prn in a SNF? If I were to go PRN can it be just Saturday or is it Saturday and Sunday only? What would be some realistic salaries for that situation? I apologize if this is at all redundant to anything you have already said. I just wanted a more specific view. Thanks in advance!!!!!

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

Well, those guys in OT who are not as pleased with the field clearly aren't doing enough to influence their own destiny - OT is one of those professions that is so wide open that there just isn't any excuse. 😉

How about this, guys - lemme create a new thread, starting with your question, mgeagle.

 

[coolrunnins]

can you provide the link to the new thread please dan?

 

[keyboardmouse]

Thanks alot Dan. Hows the scope of private practice?

Do a lot of people go into private practice? Reasons if no?

Also could you make decent $$ if you do own a private practice?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

I'll provide the link when I make it! Sorry about the wait, guys - I'll answer all of your questions, I promise. If I amass enough questions, I may just do a quick video and knock it all out, but we'll see! I'll open up the thread in a moment and let the questions pour in.

 

[DanOTR/LNMT]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/ask-an-ot-about-anything-ot.1071421/

It's up! Post (or re-post) your questions in there and I'll answer everything to your heart's content.

 

[NoonanOTR]

.

 

[Coco88]

This thread and the one linked are amazing! I was curious to know if anyone has found info on the average pay increases on various certs? Specifically, CSRS?

 

[midwest2west]

Of course 🙂 I just know that all through out school and the beginning of my career, I was never given any real life guidance...unless you count the over exaggeration of salary and "sunshine and rainbows" perspective professors tend to give you. I remember what it's like to be in your shoes, and I want you guys to be educated and aware so you guys can take full advantage of being an OT.

I know the figures starting can seem kind of low. It's a big shock to those who were told throughout school by professors that you'll be earning tons of money off the bat, especially. As well, OTs just aren't really explained in a real life sense all of the options they have in front of them (no one ever explains PRN, or physical agent modality training (PAMS) for example).

A lot of the real life, pragmatic perspective that new grads need is just out of reach because of the tiny box that course work (and fieldwork) puts you in; I've been through all of the interviews, been hired at dozens of places that promise dozens of different things (wether or not they delivered, through...); I've been laid off, I've even been fired from a position. I've been though the gamut of clinical interests (prosthetics, to neuro, to psych, to ortho, to upper extremity pain), I've been through the continuing education and the seminars, I've been behind the scenes and under the hood of just how the system works. I've sat in the student chair, and I've stood in front of the class before teaching the very same information. Goodness, and I don't like to think that I'm that old.

So, by all means - ask anything and I'll do my best to give you the best answer possible. I want everyone here on this forum to succeed...and even fail, so they can discover, explore, and love every new option that they will inevitably end up succeeding in.

Dan- I'm thinking of specializing in hand therapy. Do my hours in field work or residency (for the doctorate) count toward the required hang therapy hours?