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What is a contract therapy company, and how is it different from a travel agency?

A contract therapy company supplies a nursing facility's therapy services under an arrangement with the facility, which federal rules allow when the facility does not employ the therapists itself, while a travel therapy agency places you on a set-length contract at a facility that needs to fill a gap. Both can appear when you search for therapy contract companies, so ask which one an offer comes from: who employs you, where you work and for how long.

By ProTherapy Staffing, published November 14, 2026.

What does a contract therapy company do?

It provides a facility’s therapy services from outside. Federal rules for nursing facilities, 42 CFR 483.65, cover services “such as but not limited to physical therapy, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy”, and say that when they are in a resident’s plan of care the facility must “Provide the required services; or” obtain them “from an outside resource that is a provider of specialized rehabilitative services”.

A contract therapy company is that outside provider: it staffs the therapy department and runs the program under its agreement with the facility. Its therapists are its own staff, placed at the facilities it serves.

What do the federal rules say about outside providers?

That the arrangement has to be in place. 42 CFR 483.70 says: “If the facility does not employ a qualified professional person to furnish a specific service to be provided by the facility, the facility must have that service furnished to residents by a person or agency outside the facility under an arrangement”.

The same section adds that such arrangements “must specify in writ”ing the responsibilities of each side, which is why a contract therapy company’s role at a facility is set down in an agreement rather than left to the therapists on site.

Who can provide the therapy under these rules?

Qualified therapists, under a physician’s order, whoever employs them. The same section, 42 CFR 483.65, says: “Specialized rehabilitative services must be provided under the written order of a physician by qualified personnel.” Your state license is what makes you qualified personnel, whether your paycheck comes from the facility, a contract therapy company or a travel agency.

That is why credentialing looks similar in all three cases: the license, the background check and the facility’s own requirements. What differs is who employs you and on what terms, which is the question to settle first.

If you want to know which kind of job an offer is before you answer it, ask a ProTherapy recruiter: Find my next contract.

How is that different from a travel therapy agency?

In what you sign up for. A contract therapy job is usually a staff position with the company, at one facility or a group of nearby ones, for as long as the job lasts. A travel therapy contract is a set number of weeks at a facility, often far from home, through an agency that also handles your housing and travel stipends.

How working with a travel therapy agency works covers the agency side. Some companies do both, so the job, not the company’s name, tells you which kind of work an offer is.

What should you ask before you accept either?

Ask who your employer is and who issues your W-2, where you will work and whether that can change, how long the job lasts and how it ends, and who sets your caseload and productivity expectations. For a travel contract, also ask how housing and meals stipends are paid and what the cancellation terms are.

The agency comparison checklist lists the questions to put to any company in writing.

Which one fits you?

A contract therapy position suits a therapist who wants to stay in one area, near home, with steady hours in a facility setting and the same team week to week. A travel contract suits one who wants to move between places for set stretches, with stipends while away from a tax home they keep.

Neither is better in general; the right one depends on whether you want to stay put or move, and on what each offer puts in writing. Many therapists try both over a career, and the questions above work for either one.

If travel is what you want and you know where and in what setting, a job watch lets you hear the day a job like that opens.

Frequently asked questions

What is a contract therapy company?

It is an outside provider that supplies a facility's therapy services under an agreement with the facility, which federal nursing facility rules allow when the facility does not employ the therapists itself.

Is contract therapy the same as travel therapy?

No. Contract therapy is usually a staff job with the company at facilities in one area; travel therapy is a set-length contract at a facility, often away from home, through an agency.

What should I ask a contract therapy company before I accept?

Ask who issues your W-2, where you will work and whether that can change, how long the job lasts, and who sets your caseload and productivity expectations.

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