Care Transitions Coordinator | Ashlesha Dixit Gokhale

Although there are multiple non-clinical opportunities available for PTs in the USA, there are very few Indian PTs taking up these roles. Today’s spotlight features a non-clinical PT in the USA who also happens to be a dear friend! Ashlesha works as a Care Transitions Coordinator and recently celebrated her 1 year anniversary in the non-clinical role. Read this spotlight to learn more about what her job entails.

What is your name, job title, and workplace?

Ashlesha Dixit Gokhale

PT/Care Transitions Coordinator at Enhabit Home Health and Hospice. 

What is your educational background?

Masters in Physical Therapy (Musculoskeletal Sciences) from MUHS.

What did you do soon after graduation?

Right after graduation, I moved to the United States to join my husband on a dependent visa. After a well-deserved two-month break from studying for exams, I started the procedure to get licensed as a PT in the US.

What was the process like to obtain a license in the USA?

 The process involved 4 major steps-

1. Gathering documents from the University in India, for educational evaluation.

2. Getting my education evaluated by the USA credentialing agency- FCCPT to verify that the education is at par with the USA standards of education.

3. After receiving the evaluation report from FCCPT, take extra courses to fulfill the educational deficiencies.

4. Apply for the PT National Physical therapy Examination (NPTE) i.e. PT license examination.

Editors note: Here is the article that describes this process in detail

What was the process like to obtain a work permit in the USA?

There are two ways to work in the USA, a work visa (i.e. H1b) or a work permit (i.e EAD – Only applicable if you have your spouse already in the US with an approved I140). I went through the H1B application process and started working initially on H1B. This visa can be applied only by your employer. After I cleared NPTE I started looking for PT job opportunities. I always mentioned in my interviews that I needed an H1B visa to work in the USA. 

Employers’ legal departments are often aware of work visas. They can apply for the H1b after they offer you a job. The H1b visa application happens only once a year in April. Since more applications are received each year than the allocated H1b quota, a lottery selects applications for review. If you are picked up in the lottery and satisfy the requirements, then you are granted H1B visa. It is valid from October of that year.

How long did it take you to start working in the USA?

It took me around 1 year and 6 months. That involved completing my credentialing, fulfilling the deficient credits, and passing NPTE. I started working as a full-time PT in 2017.

Tell us more about your clinical work experience in USA.

I started working as a home health PT in 2017. After working in Home Health for 1.5 years I switched to the outpatient setting.

Home health is a flexible setting where you schedule your patient visits at your suitable time and decide your own day. On the other hand, in an outpatient setting, there are set hours with less flexibility.

A home health setting is where you treat homebound patients. The goal is to get them clinically functional to be able to transition to outpatient PT if needed.

I am presently working in a non-clinical setting as a Care Transitions Coordinator.

Why did you transition to a non-clinical role, (Care Transitions Coordinator)?

As a home health PT I used to get patients on my schedule however I was always interested in learning what goes on behind the scene; before patients are scheduled for home health visits. That’s when I came across the Care Transitions Coordinator (CTC/Liaison) role. I also started getting a bit of burnout in a clinical setting and I felt I wasn’t able to deliver the best patient outcome. Non-clinical roles also allow a better work-life balance and allow more flexibility.

Tell us more about your work as a Care Transitions Coordinator

Care Transitions Coordinators (CTC) transition patients from Hospital to Home. Discharge planners in the hospitals determine at the time of discharge if the specific patient needs to be seen for Home health nursing/PT/OT/SLP post-discharge. 

Care transition coordinators make this transition smooth making sure the home health provider has all the required paperwork from the hospital in order to start Home Health services. Ensuring documents are accurate and complete is critical for insurance reimbursement and any error can delay services rendered by the Home Health Provider, and hence care transition coordinator plays an important role. 

Care transitions coordinators assess the patients referred for Home health while in the hospital and paint a clinical picture for the treating Home health clinician before their first visit to the patient’s house. This involves verifying the patient’s demographic information, assessing the patient’s clinical condition, educating the patient and family about home health, and briefing the patient about what to expect after hospital discharge.

What do you like about being a Care Transitions Coordinator?

I really enjoy the flexible hours, there is more work-life balance, getting to know the hospital system and people in different roles, and still being able to help patients with their functional recovery. Patients usually feel confident and informed after meeting the liaisons in the hospital as they often don’t know what to expect after they go home and before the home health visits are scheduled.

What are the challenges you face?

Marketing is one of the major parts of being a care transitions coordinator. Making trustworthy contacts with hospital case managers and discharge planners in order to get more referrals for your company is one of the challenges with this role, especially with many competitors in this market. As a liaison, we have a target to meet every month which could be challenging at times.

How can Indian PTs in USA transition to non-clinical roles in the USA? 

PTs usually transition to nonclinical roles after working in a clinical setting for at least a couple of years. Nonclinical roles are available in specific companies and specific settings such as Home health. In order to have an H1b visa you should be a skilled worker. PTs in non-clinical roles are still considered skilled workers and should be able to get an H1b visa without issues.

What are your future plans?

I plan to grow in my care transitions coordinator role and progress to a management role in the future. I also plan to dedicate more time to educating Indian PTs who wish to locate to the USA and guide them in their PT licensing journey.

What is the advice you would give to PT new grads?

Nonclinical PT careers are still a less explored domain. If you wish to transition to a non-clinical role in the future then please start exploring such positions now with some keywords such as Liaison, Coordinator, Educator, Reviewer, etc.

PTs can always talk to their supervisors about transitioning to non-clinical roles in the future and ask about available opportunities within their organizations. Supervisors are often able to guide about such opportunities and extra steps or education required for the same.

Where can people reach you?

LinkedIn! I can be reached at ptlicensingusa@gmail.com as well.

For the past 6 years, I have been guiding students who are willing to start their PT licensing procedure in the USA. I am currently licensed in 5 states in the US and I have always enjoyed guiding PTs who need help in their USA PT licensing journey. When I started my procedure for PT licensing in 2015 I felt I am lost in the process and didn’t know what to do. I felt the need for some education regarding this process and with this vision in mind, I conducted a few webinars in the past regarding PT licensing in the USA. Please email me at ptlicensingusa@gmail.com with your PT licensing-related questions and I will be happy to help you to the best of my knowledge.