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Athletic discipline became the foundation for Jason Miller, ATP, CRTS®, guiding his work to help clients reclaim independence. Looking back on his career, Miller points first not to his own grit but to the family, mentors and colleagues who supported him — and still do today at Hometown Healthcare, where he serves as rehab director.

“I’ve always believed in the power of a team,” Miller said. “When you are part of something bigger than yourself, you learn how important it is to show up, pull your weight and be there for each other.” That self-effacing outlook has carried Miller through 25 years in the Complex Rehab Technology field. Established through discipline and experience, his quiet confidence gives clients reliability.

Miller and his brother and his sister grew up in a small Mississippi town where their single mother worked two jobs to support the family. She taught by example — responsibility and a strong work ethic. “When we got home from school every day, there was a list of chores for us. It wasn’t optional. We knew they had to be done before she got home from work, and we had to work together,” Miller said. “Kudos to my mom. She raised us tough and showed us how to care for people. She cared for her dying brother, cared for her mom in her last days. My mom was a caregiver at heart, and I think some of that rubbed off on me and shaped my future.”

Football gave Miller another foundation for his belief in teamwork. At Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, he played linebacker and defensive end, helping his team win back-to-back championships. “I played every snap,” he said. “I was also a two-time Academic All-America in football, and that was a huge accomplishment for me.”

Miller remembers his coach’s unbending standards: “If we had a meeting at 5:30 in the morning and you showed up at 5:31, the door was locked. No excuses. And if one person was late, everybody ran. It taught us accountability.” He applies these same principles to his work.

Miller earned an undergraduate degree in criminal justice and planned to be a highway patrol officer. To help pay for school, he took a job with an agency supporting people with disabilities — a glimpse of what would become his life’s work.

“I’d get up at 4 a.m. every day to help a man with a spinal cord injury get dressed for work,” Miller said. “His mom was worried I would be uncomfortable with the personal care, but I said, ‘If I’m going to do the job, I’ll do it right.’ I was making $5.15 an hour, but the experience was formative. I realized that being able to help someone have a better life appealed to me, and I thought, ‘Maybe I’m pretty decent at this.’”

What started as a way to earn gas money turned into something more. “That job showed me I could make a difference.”

After graduation, Miller took a construction job until he landed at Home Care Supply in 2000 as a delivery driver. Within a year, he was named “Delivery Driver of the Year” out of more than 160 branches nationwide. “That’s one of my proudest moments,” Miller said. “The award was based on survey cards from clients.”

He moved into rehab technology, eventually becoming a branch manager, rehab technician and an ATP, CRTS®, soon after. “I’ve done just about every job in this industry,” he said. “Each taught me something new.”

One of the most formative chapters of Miller’s career came during his years serving patients at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the nation’s leading rehabilitation hospitals. For more than two decades, he made the drive from Mississippi and Alabama to Atlanta, sometimes daily, to help people recover from catastrophic injuries.

“I dealt with Shepherd Center for 21 years, and it completely changed my skill level.” he explained. “At home, I might see one spinal cord injury a year. At Shepherd, I was seeing five to 10 a day.”

That exposure sharpened Miller’s technical skills and deepened his empathy. “Every patient there had their life changed in an instant— a car wreck, a fall, a sports accident. You’d sit in a room with families, doctors and therapists, and you realized this wasn’t just about equipment. It was about giving someone hope and a way forward.”

Miller remembers the intensity. “When you go in there to do rehab, your mind better be in it along with your heart and soul. If it’s just about the money, you’re in the wrong business. You’ve got to ask, ‘What is in the best interest of the patient,’ and ‘What can I do to make this family’s life easier?’”

He saw families reeling from overnight change: a teenager who had fallen in a cheerleading accident, a father who broke his neck diving into a lake, a young woman paralyzed after a car crash. “We weren’t faced with a progressive decline like Parkinson’s or Multiple Sclerosis (MS) (multiple sclerosis),” Miller said. “Every person I met had their life turned upside down in 30 seconds. You had to walk in that room ready to give them everything you had.”

Those years, he said, were challenging and formative. “It made me better — not just as a professional but also as a person.”

In 2013, Miller joined Hometown Healthcare after meeting owner Scott Kilgore over barbecue. Kilgore’s pitch was simple: He wanted a partner, not just an employee. “The best part about joining Scott was that anything to do with rehab went through me,” Miller said. “I had never had anyone really give me a voice before. For someone to have that kind of trust in me was empowering.”

At the time, the company was about a $3.5 million business. Today, Hometown Healthcare is approaching $30 million with multiple locations. Miller sees the growth as the result of a shared vision. “We’ve built it together,” he said. “Scott gave me the platform, and the whole team has worked hard to make it happen. It’s a team win.”

Among the challenges of his work, Miller says the insurance-driven system is particularly troubling. “Sometimes I feel that it is almost inhumane how patients get treated. You have to tell someone who’s been independent in their chair for years that their new insurance thinks they deserve less. That’s the hardest part of the job.”

He tries to focus on the positives, like the introduction of prior authorization that reduced surprise audits and gave providers more security. “That was a big win for everybody,” Miller said. “And ultimately, people need us. That job security matters. What keeps me going is knowing we’re improving lives.”

Miller’s wife, Tina Miller, is also an essential part of his team at Hometown Healthcare, managing intake and insurance verification. “We’d be lost without her,” he said. Married more than 20 years, the couple balances work with family time and two French bulldogs, Iggy Mae and Coco Chanel, who happily join them on trips to the beach and the mountains. According to Jason, they think they run the household team.

Just as Tina plays a vital role in his life and work, Miller is quick to recognize others who have guided and supported him along the way, especially longtime friend and industry leader, Will Jiron. “He taught me so much — flew me out to Dallas, showed me how to do my first quad, walked me through the order forms,” Miller said. “Will has mentored me for 25 years. I can’t ever thank him enough.” Miller follows that example by mentoring others. “When someone’s green, you can’t just send them out on their own. Somebody has got to mentor them. I had people do that for me, and I want to do the same for others.”

Miller views teamwork as more than a business strategy; he sees it as the foundation of meaningful service. “I hope I can be that person my colleagues and clients can always count on,” he said. “The heart of this work is giving clients the best of us—and that takes a united, dedicated team.”

 

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Jason may be reached at jason@hometownhealthcarems.com.

Jason Miller, ATP, CRTS®, is rehab director at Hometown Healthcare and has 25 years of experience in Complex Rehab Technology. His career spans roles from delivery driver to Assistive Technology Professional, including more than two decades supporting patients at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Known for his quiet confidence and commitment to teamwork, he continues to guide Hometown Healthcare’s growth while ensuring clients receive compassionate, expert care. Miller has been an iNRRTS Registrant since 2002.

 

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