Compliance Expert Rick Gawenda Joins Stride as Strategic Advisor on Compliance
Leading Authority on Physical Therapy Documentation Standards Partners with Stride EMR to Help Restore Balance Between Compliance and Patient Care
Brooklyn, NY – Feb 10, 2026. Stride, an AI-native EMR and practice management platform built exclusively for outpatient physical therapy providers, announced today that Rick Gawenda, PT, President of Gawenda Seminars & Consulting, has joined the company as a strategic advisor. With over 25 years of experience and having delivered more than 1,000 seminars on documentation standards, CPT coding, and regulatory requirements, Gawenda is one of the most respected voices in therapy compliance for physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
“I’ve spent 25 years watching therapists struggle with documentation burden, the time it takes, the complexity, the risk of denials,” Gawenda said. “Therapists are struggling to document succinctly while demonstrating their clinical skills were required. They need documentation that supports the CPT codes billed and medical necessity while providing quality care in a market with stagnant reimbursement. The result is high visit volumes that lead to burnout and can compromise care quality.
If AI can be utilized in software to help therapists demonstrate their clinical skills without exhausting them with administrative work, we can restore what they love about patient care. That’s worth being part of.”
As someone who works with practices using various EMR systems across the industry, Gawenda said Stride’s approach stood apart from other companies attempting to address documentation challenges.
“I could have partnered with any EMR company,” Gawenda said. “What drew me to Stride is they’re actually solving the problems I see every day, helping therapists create compliant documentation that demonstrates medical necessity without the burden of excessive clicking and typing. Stride built compliance into how the note gets created, rather than making therapists think about it separately. That’s why I chose to work with them.“
Ryan Limor, CEO of Stride, said Gawenda’s decision to join as an advisor reflects a shared vision for what technology should enable in therapy practices.
“Rick has spent decades helping therapists navigate compliance and documentation,” said Limor. “His partnership validates what we’re building and ensures we’re developing AI that truly serves therapists. This supports our overarching vision of using technology to eliminate burdens across the entire practice. That’s the standard we’re holding ourselves to.“
About Rick Gawenda, PT
Rick Gawenda, PT, is founder and president of Gawenda Seminars & Consulting, Inc., and one of the leading authorities on compliance, documentation, and coding for outpatient therapy services. Since 2004, he has delivered more than 1,000 seminars and webinars educating physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and practice administrators on regulatory requirements and documentation best practices. A Past President of the Section on Health Policy & Administration of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), Gawenda is also retained by attorneys as an expert witness on documentation, billing, and compliance matters specific to therapy services.He graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy in 1991 and is author “The How-To Manual for Rehab Documentation” and “Coding and Billing For Outpatient Rehab Made Easy. Gawenda serves as an independent compliance expert and educator across the therapy industry.
