Implementation Manager — Adam Frantz

This week’s spotlight is on Adam Frantz, PTA, a Non-Clinical 101 graduate who is now Implementation Manager for Pediatric Therapeutic Services!

What is your full name, title, and company name for your current, primary role?

Adam Frantz, PTA — Implementation Manager for Pediatric Therapeutic Services

Where are you located?

Conshohocken, PA.

Where did you go to PTA school, and what year did you graduate?

Lehigh Carbon Community College, 2013.

What did you do when you first finished school, and for how long?

Upon graduation, I moved to Philadelphia and began working as a PTA in various skilled nursing facility (SNF) settings for the majority of 10 years. The last five of those years, I worked as Assistant Director of Rehab (ADOR).

In what setting(s) did you work, and what types of patients did you treat?

In the SNF settings, I treated mainly older adults through geriatric populations, ranging from orthopedic needs to end-stage dementia residents. I also briefly worked as a contractor in outpatient settings, including aquatic therapy.

What did you enjoy about your early roles? What didn’t you enjoy?

As a PTA, I enjoyed being able to have the flexibility of my day-to-day schedule, creating and developing relationships with the patients and residents, and ultimately helping them regain mobility and improve their quality of life.

As an ADOR, I enjoyed seeing the operations side of therapy services and developing and managing clinical programming.

What I didn’t enjoy was the increasingly overwhelming productivity standards, insurance requirements, and reimbursement cuts from insurance companies and Medicare that made it tougher to provide the optimal quality of therapy services to those who truly needed it.

When and why did you decide to do something non-clinical?

In Fall 2021, the decision was a combination of the “what I didn’t enjoy” stated above and the need to work remotely and with more flexibility in my work-life schedule, as we were expecting twin girls in the spring!

In 2022, I stepped away from clinical care and accepted a position as Customer Success Manager (CSM) with A Place For Mom.

What are you doing these days?

Currently, I work full-time and remotely (with a hybrid option) as Implementation Manager for Pediatric Therapeutic Services. We are a school-based therapy services company who contracts therapy services in area school districts.

As an implementation manager, my main role is to establish solid business relationships. I accomplish this by setting up new and existing clients and independent contractors through monitoring reports and streamlining processes of service delivery.

Are you still treating patients, or are you solely non-clinical?

I still hold my PTA license; however, I am solely non-clinical today.

How long have you been in your current implementation manager role?

Since July 2023.

How did you find your job? Did you apply or find it through a connection?

For my first non-clinical role, I connected with an employee who was recently hired into the same position (CSM) that I was applying for. 

I messaged him on LinkedIn, and he graciously asked to set up a call to talk more about the role and what I was looking for. I was able to use him as a reference when applying, which helped having an “in.”

For my current position, a recruiter reached out to me via LinkedIn. At the time, I wasn’t seeking another job; however, this role was too perfect to pass up!

Did you do anything special to your resume and cover letter to land the job?

I took Non-Clinical 101 and attended all the virtual meetings I could. I also reached out to fellow Non-Clinical 101 members for assistance with resume writing and interview advice.

I also used Resume-Now to create my resumes and cover letters. It was very easy to use and was nice to be able to store and track all my documents.

How have people reacted to you leaving patient care?

My family and wife have been a huge support along the way. It’s very scary to leave a job, let alone an entire industry and venture into something completely new. However, they had my back to remind me that this career pathway will lead to advancement and bigger roles, and it has!

What’s a typical day or week in the life like for you? What types of tasks and responsibilities fill your time?

My role is very flexible, as it is remote. However, the office is six blocks…yes, six blocks…from my house!  So, I am able to easily stop in the office or spend a day there if needed.

My days typically start between 8:30 – 9:00am with following up on emails and running reports I need to send out. Most days are scattered with TEAMS calls in the mornings, and my afternoons are kept free to complete any specific projects I am working on.

What are some of the rewards of your role? What are the biggest challenges?

One of the rewards of my role is that, although I am not directly working as a therapist in the field or in a school, I am helping them out operationally to make sure they are efficient and set up for success.

Since leaving clinical care, the biggest challenge has always been “being my own boss” and not having a strict schedule. It’s great to have the remote freedom; however, there are project deadlines and accountability to deliver. Filling my calendar and creating to-do tasks is necessary to make sure I am reaching all goals.

How did your clinical background prepare you for this role? Which skills transferred?

My advancement to an ADOR helped me prepare for a non-clinical role. I was tasked with scheduling, billing, KPI metrics and reporting to the Regional Directors on which clinical programming is and isn’t working. All of those skills were very transferrable to my first non-clinical role.

Roughly speaking, how are the hours and pay compared to patient care?

The pay in my first role as CSM was slightly more than as a clinician; however, there were monthly bonuses that could be obtained. 

In my current role, although the hours are flexible, there are weeks that I am working less or more than 40 hours per week, depending on project deadlines and school calendars.

What type of person do you think would do well in your implementation manager role?

I believe you need to be very detail-oriented and able to think outside the box.

Being organized and able to multitask is important, as you will most likely be tasked with many different projects at the same time.

Do you work remotely or onsite?

I work remotely with a hybrid option.

Does your organization hire PT, OT, or SLP professionals into non-clinical roles? If so, what type of roles?

Yes! All of our clinical directors are previous skilled clinicians.

Did you read any books, take any courses, or do anything special overall to get you where you are today?

I took Non-Clinical 101! 

Also, I did begin a course on HubSpot, which I know would have been very helpful. However, I did not have the time to finish it, as I landed my first non-clinical job during it!

What is a typical career path for someone in your implementation manager role?

My role falls under Kelly Services, Inc., in their education sector, so a career path could take me into a director role or managing a group of implementation managers.

What is next for you? What are your high-level career aspirations?

Since I just began my implementation manager role in July 2023, I am still learning the role, and our team is starting to grow.

What would you recommend to someone who is considering going into a role like yours? Do you have any special words of wisdom for the readers?

NETWORK! Each time I applied to a job, I looked up who the hiring person was on LinkedIn and messaged them to express further interest. 

I also looked to see if there were others who had the same job title as I applied for and messaged them for insight. The more you expose yourself, the better!