Physical therapist assistant screening questions: NPTE for PTAs, supervision rules, setting and caseload
On this page
- Which PTA job is it?
- Which exam, license and compact checks apply?
- How does supervision work in the client's state and setting?
- Knockout questions
- Scope and judgment questions
- Caseload, documentation and productivity questions
- How PTA experience gets overstated
- A 12-minute phone-screen flow
- Scoring
- Lawful phrasing for PTA screens
- Questions people ask
Physical therapist assistant screening questions should confirm four things early in the call: that the PTA passed the NPTE for PTAs and holds a license (or a PT Compact privilege) in the job's state, that they have recent experience in the same setting, that they are used to the supervision model the client runs, and that they treat within a PTA's limits rather than acting as a second therapist. As of October 2026, supervision rules differ by state and by payer, so the last two points sort candidates faster than years of experience do.
This page covers what is specific to assistants. For therapists, use the physical therapist screening questions, which already cover productivity formulas by setting and the PT Compact map in depth. If the order is for an occupational therapy assistant instead, the occupational therapy assistant screening questions follow the same pattern with NBCOT and OT rules.
Which PTA job is it?
The setting decides the caseload, the supervision you can expect and how productivity is counted. Ask the client before the screen, then ask the candidate about their last two years in the same terms.
| Setting | What changes for a PTA | Ask the candidate |
|---|---|---|
| Outpatient orthopedic clinic | Scheduled visits, often overlapping patients, progressions inside the PT's plan, aides to direct | "How many patients did you see on a full day, and how many PTs and aides were on the floor?" |
| Skilled nursing facility | Long-term and short-stay residents, minutes and productivity targets, the PT often on site part of the day | "Who was your supervising PT, and how often were they in the building?" |
| Home health | Visits alone in the patient's home, supervisory visits by the PT, driving between visits | "How many visits a week, and how did you reach the PT when a patient's status changed?" |
| Acute care or inpatient rehab | Mobility and transfers with medically complex patients, lines and monitors, discharge planning input | "Which units did you cover, and what did you do when vitals changed during a session?" |
| Pediatrics or schools | Sessions inside an IEP or a clinic plan, family communication | "What ages, and who wrote the goals you worked toward?" |
Which exam, license and compact checks apply?
As of October 2026. We checked these rules on FSBPT's, the PT Compact Commission's and CMS's own pages. State practice acts change; check the job state's board before you submit.
- The NPTE for PTAs. FSBPT's candidate handbook requires a degree appropriate for the exam level from a CAPTE-accredited institution and approval from the licensing authority. Candidates may test no more than six times in a lifetime at either exam level, no more than three consecutive times in a 12-month period, and not at all after two scores below 400. A new graduate who "has the exam scheduled" is not yet licensed; ask for the date and the state's rules on working before a license is issued.
- The state license or certificate. Each state's licensing agency regulates PTAs. FSBPT's Verify a PT/PTA License page links to every state's lookup. Check the job state, not only the home state.
- PT Compact privileges. The compact covers PTAs as well as PTs. A privilege is bought one state at a time from a home-state license, under the eligibility rules on the Commission's How to Get Privileges page. The compact map shows 38 jurisdictions actively issuing and accepting privileges as of October 2026, with Maine, Michigan and Rhode Island enacted but not yet issuing. Verify a privilege with the Commission's privilege verification tool.
How does supervision work in the client's state and setting?
Supervision is where PTA placements go wrong. A PTA used to a clinic with three PTs on the floor may struggle in a home health agency where the PT visits every few weeks, and a PTA from a state with no ratio may not know the client's state caps how many assistants one PT can oversee.
- State ratios. FSBPT's Jurisdiction Licensure Reference Guide lists 41 jurisdictions with a supervision ratio and 12 without one, as of October 2026. California's entry says a physical therapist shall not supervise more than two PTAs at one time (plus one aide on patient-related tasks); Texas sets no number and leaves it to the therapist's professional judgment.
- Medicare private practice. CMS's CY 2025 physician fee schedule final rule allows general supervision of PTAs by PTs in private practice, aligning it with institutional settings. State law can still be stricter.
- Plan of care. Under 42 CFR 410.61, the Medicare outpatient plan of care is established, and changed, by a physician, the treating therapist, or a nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist or physician assistant. PTAs are not on either list.
- Payment. Medicare pays 85 percent of the otherwise applicable Part B amount for outpatient therapy furnished in whole or in part by a PTA, marked with the CQ modifier, from January 1, 2022, and the modifier applies when the PTA furnishes more than 10 percent of a service (CMS billing examples). Some clinics staff around this; ask the client how its schedule splits PT and PTA time.
Knockout questions
| Question | Strong answer | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Which state licenses or compact privileges do you hold, and when do they renew? | Names each state, the renewal month and a home state that matches where they live. | "I'm compact, so I can work anywhere." Privileges are bought state by state. |
| 2. For this job in [state], how will you be authorized on the start date? | An existing license, a privilege they can buy now, or an application already filed with a date. | No application started for a state outside the compact. |
| 3. Has any board taken action on your license, in any state? | A clear no, or a direct explanation with dates. | Hesitation, or "it was handled". |
| 4. How recent is your experience in [setting], and for how long? | Months and an employer, in the same setting. | Only clinical rotations in the setting the client needs. |
| 5. This role is [schedule, weekends, territory]. Does that work every week? | A yes, or a specific limit stated now. | "I'm flexible," then a no-weekends request at offer. |
Scope and judgment questions
These separate a PTA who works inside the PT's plan from one who drifts outside it. Listen for the moment they call the PT.
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"A patient on your schedule has new swelling and calf pain since the last visit. What do you do?"
- Strong answer: stops or holds the exercise, checks vitals, contacts the supervising PT and the nurse or physician per policy, documents what they saw and who they told.
- Red flags: treats through it, or changes the plan on their own.
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"Your patient has met every goal in the plan two weeks early. What happens next?"
- Strong answer: reports progress to the PT, who reassesses and decides on new goals or discharge.
- Red flags: "I write new goals" or "I discharge them".
-
"How did you progress exercises inside the PT's plan?"
- Strong answer: describes progression within parameters the PT set (load, range, repetitions) and what they flagged for the PT instead of changing.
- Red flags: cannot say what the parameters were.
-
"Tell me about a time a PT asked you to do something you thought was outside your role."
- Strong answer: a calm account: asked the question, checked the practice act or policy, found a solution.
- Red flags: "I just did it", or a story that ends in blame.
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"How often did your supervising PT see your patients, and how did you hand off between visits?"
- Strong answer: knows the supervisory visit or conference rhythm their setting and state required.
- Red flags: has never heard of supervisory visits in home health or a SNF.
Caseload, documentation and productivity questions
| Question | Strong answer | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| What diagnoses made up most of your caseload last month? | A realistic mix in proportion: post-op joints, falls and balance, neuro, cardiac or pulmonary rehab. | Every diagnosis ever seen, with no sense of proportion. |
| Which transfers and mobility skills do you use daily, and with what equipment? | Specific: gait belts, mechanical lifts, slide boards, walkers and canes, and how they decide what level of assistance to give. | No mention of equipment or safety for dependent transfers. |
| What was your productivity expectation, and where did you land? | The target in the employer's terms (visits per day, percent of paid time, visits per week) and an honest number. | "Always on target" with no number. |
| Which documentation system did you use last, and when were notes done? | Names the system and finishes notes the same day. | Notes routinely days behind. |
| Did you track which part of each visit you delivered and which the PT delivered? | Knows the clinic marked PTA-delivered services and why. | Has never heard of the CQ modifier in an outpatient Medicare clinic. |
If a candidate describes being told to bill PTA-delivered care as therapist care, or to treat beyond the plan of care, do not probe for detail on a screening call. Note it neutrally and raise it with your compliance lead.
How PTA experience gets overstated
- Aide time as PTA time. Years as a rehab aide or tech before licensure, presented as PTA experience. Ask for the license issue date.
- "Did evaluations." Usually means helped with measurements or wrote the daily note after the PT's evaluation. Ask what part they did.
- Setting by building. Worked in a hospital-owned outpatient clinic, described as acute care.
- "Compact licensed." Holds a home-state license and assumes it covers other states.
- Specialty from a weekend course. A continuing education course described as a specialty, such as vestibular or lymphedema.
A 12-minute phone-screen flow
- Minutes 0 to 2: setting, schedule, territory and start date.
- Minutes 2 to 5: knockouts; note each license state, renewal month and compact privilege, and verify after the call.
- Minutes 5 to 9: two scope and judgment questions and the supervision question.
- Minutes 9 to 11: caseload, productivity and documentation.
- Minute 11 to 12: pay expectations (not pay history; see salary expectation questions) and next steps.
Scoring
Pass or fail
- Licensed in the job state, or holds a verified PT Compact privilege there, or has a realistic route before the start date.
- No undisclosed board action.
- Recent experience in the same setting at the client's minimum.
- Accepts the schedule, weekend rotation and territory.
Scored 0 to 2 each (10 possible)
- Scope: escalates changes in status to the PT and does not change the plan.
- Supervision fit: used to the client's model and state rules.
- Caseload match for the client's patients.
- Productivity and documentation: real numbers, timely notes.
- Transfers and safety: equipment and assistance levels described concretely.
Lawful phrasing for PTA screens
PTA work is physical, and screens drift into health questions. The EEOC's guidance on pre-employment disability-related questions allows questions about the ability to do the job's functions, not about conditions, before an offer. Ask: "The role includes dependent transfers and gait training using the facility's lifts and belts. Can you perform those duties, with or without accommodation?" Do not ask about past injuries, age or graduation year, or family plans. The illegal interview questions guide lists the common slips.
License states, privileges, supervision models and visit counts are easy to mix up between candidates. Interview Signal keeps the must-ask license and supervision questions pinned until you ask them, so the submittal carries what each PTA actually said. For later rounds, the interview guide for therapy roles covers structured interviews and scorecards.
Questions people ask
What exam does a physical therapist assistant have to pass?
PTAs take the National Physical Therapy Examination for physical therapist assistants, run by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. As of October 2026, FSBPT requires a degree at the PTA level from a CAPTE-accredited program and approval from the licensing authority, and limits candidates to six attempts in a lifetime at each exam level.
How many PTAs can one physical therapist supervise?
It depends on the state. FSBPT's Jurisdiction Licensure Reference Guide, as of October 2026, shows 41 jurisdictions with a supervision ratio and 12 without one. California, for example, limits a physical therapist to two PTAs at one time, while Texas leaves the number to the therapist's professional judgment.
Can a PTA do the initial evaluation or change the plan of care?
Not for Medicare outpatient therapy. Under 42 CFR 410.61, the plan of care is established by a physician, the therapist furnishing the services, or a nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist or physician assistant, and PTAs are not on the list of people who may establish or change it. State practice acts add their own limits, so check the job state's rules.
Why do clinics ask how much of a visit a PTA delivered?
Because Medicare pays 85 percent of the otherwise applicable Part B amount for outpatient therapy furnished in whole or in part by a PTA, marked with the CQ modifier, since January 1, 2022. CMS applies it when the PTA furnishes more than 10 percent of a service, so the clinic's staffing model and documentation habits matter.