2024 Updates

• DME: Colorado House Bill 1327, which continues the regulation of physical therapists and physical therapy assistants until 2035 and authorizes physical therapists to recommend and prescribe durable medical equipment to patients without a prescription from a physician, was signed by the Governor.
  
  

• Dry Needling: OTAC recently received this written statement from DORA after sharing the AOTA position paper on dry needling and requesting a ruling.
  
  Reminder: OTP's cannot perform dry needling in Colorado. OT's in Colorado are not permitted by statute or rule to perform dry needling, a modality that presents unique risks and requires specific training.

  In contrast, both physical therapists and chiropractors have explicit authorizations in statute to puncture skin with needles, and both have rules specific to dry needling that require additional training and signed client consent forms to perform the modality.

  Remember that the Department of Regulatory Agencies is an executive branch agency and acts to enforce laws made by the Colorado General Assembly.

  OTAC will be working with our lobbyists and continuing to research with stakeholders the support and opposition in the state for potential future legislation regarding dry needling. We will share updates in emails and on the website as we progress in the process.

  
  

• Equine Movement as a Treatment Tool - "House Bill (HB) 22-1068 provides coverage of outpatient speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy using equine movement (hippotherapy) as a treatment tool and is anticipated to be implemented beginning July 1, 2024. Providers may bill using existing codes that are already open."

  
  
• Finalized 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Impact on OT

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) on November 1, 2024. These policies will impact the delivery of occupational therapy (OT) starting January 1, 2025.

AOTA has been advocating for years with CMS for policy changes and the new rules reflect a few wins:

OTA supervision change in private practice settings from direct to general supervision.

• Plan of Care (POC) exception policy - a signed and dated order/referral from a physician with evidence that the POC was delivered within 30 days of completion of the initial evaluation can be used to meet initial physician certification signature requirement.
• Caregiver Training - CMS approved three codes for caregiver training services (CTS) (without the patient present).
• Telehealth - Effective January 1, 2025, telehealth services may be provided (meeting 2 outlined conditions) through the new CMS audio-only policy.

AOTA members - Read AOTA’s full analysis to learn more about how the finalized policies will impact provision of occupational therapy services in 2025.