Aim To clarify the impact on rehabilitation outcomes of board‐certificated physiatrists (BCP) as the physicians with primary responsibility for elderly patients in convalescent rehabilitation wards after hip fracture. Methods The present retrospective observational study used 2005–2013 data from the Japan Rehabilitation Database. We identified in‐hospital patients with hip fracture admitted to rehabilitation wards. After applying exclusion criteria, 824 patients were eligible. The primary outcome was functional independence measure instrument efficiency. Results BCP were responsible for the care of 46% of patients with hip fracture. Patients who were managed by a BCP had significantly higher mean functional independence measure efficiency than patients who were not, both before and after adjustment by inverse propensity‐score weighting (0.37 vs 0.26; P = 0.04 and 0.39 vs 0.26; P < 0.01, respectively). Additionally, the mean length of stay was significantly shorter in patients who were managed by BCP than in those who were not, both before and after inverse propensity‐score weighting (65 vs 71 days, P = 0.04 and 64 vs 69 days, P < 0.01, respectively). Conclusions Our data suggest that the participation of BCP is associated with good rehabilitation outcomes in patients with hip fracture at convalescent rehabilitation wards. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2016; 16: 963–968.