Clinicians rarely leave rehab therapy, but they do leave practices. Our 2026 survey of 778 clinicians shows that culture, schedule breathing room, protected evenings, and useful AI matter more for retention than pay alone.
In our 2026 survey of 778 rehab therapy clinicians, motivation among clinicians was strong and steady, and most still found real meaning in the work. What varied was whether the practice around them made that work sustainable. 77% of clinicians plan to stay in clinical care, but 1 in 3 are unsure they will be at their current practice in 2 years. That gap points to the practice, not the profession. Here are 5 things that actually keep clinicians at a practice.
Among the factors clinicians name for staying at their current practice, supportive leadership (44%) and strong team culture (50%) both outrank compensation (34%). Clinical autonomy (54%) and schedule flexibility (53%) rank even higher. Pay matters, but it isn't always what keeps people at a specific practice.
72% of clinicians who say they're unlikely to be at their current practice in 2 years name back-to-back patients with no breaks as a daily drain, compared to 50% of clinicians who plan to stay. Of all the friction points we asked about, this one tracks most closely with clinicians already halfway out the door.
78% of clinicians take documentation home at least once a week, and 38% do it 3 or more nights. Every hour returned to a clinician's evening is a direct investment in whether they stay.
Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption by itself doesn’t keep people at a practice. Among clinicians who use AI for documentation, 82% still chart after hours. What actually lead to less after-hours work was satisfaction with the tool itself.
Among clinicians who rated their AI tools 5 out of 5, only 39% chart 3 or more nights a week, compared to 70% of those who rated their tools 1 out of 5.. The gap widens at the extreme: 8% of the most satisfied chart 5 or more nights a week, versus 37% of the least satisfied. The relationship holds in reverse, too. Clinicians who never chart after hours rate their AI tools 4.1 out of 5 on average, while those charting 5 or more nights rate them 3.4.
None of this is mysterious. Give clinicians control over their schedule, real breaks, protected evenings, and a culture worth staying for, and the mission takes care of itself.
Good leadership and a good team is more important than any patient population, documentation load, or compensation.
Mostly their employer. 77% plan to stay in clinical care overall, while 1 in 3 are unsure about staying at their current practice specifically.
Culture and autonomy rank higher. Supportive leadership, strong team culture, clinical autonomy, and schedule flexibility are all named more often than compensation as reasons clinicians stay at their practice.
It depends on whether the tools are genuinely useful. Simply adopting AI isn't associated with less after-hours work. Satisfaction with the AI is.
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