A New Way to Treat Pain: Occupational Therapists Could Soon Offer Dry Needling in Colorado

The Bottom Line

If you’ve ever had a knotted muscle released by dry needling, you know how popular it's become—but finding an available physical therapist who does it can be a scheduling nightmare. This new law lets occupational therapists (OTs) perform dry needling too, expanding your options for pain relief. For clinics, it means broadening your service offerings without having to hire new staff.

What This Bill Actually Does

Right now in Colorado, if you want dry needling—a treatment where thin needles are inserted into trigger points to relieve severe muscle tension and pain—you typically have to see a physical therapist or a licensed acupuncturist. HB26-1042 changes that by officially adding occupational therapists (OTs) to the list of healthcare professionals legally allowed to perform the procedure.

But the state isn't just handing out needles to anyone with an OT license. The bill builds in strict guardrails before the September 1, 2027 effective date. To legally perform dry needling, an occupational therapist must have documented competency and successfully complete a specialized course of study. The Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) is tasked with establishing the exact supervisorial, educational, and clinical prerequisites by June 1, 2027. Crucially, the bill mandates that these new rules must be at least as rigorous as the training requirements physical therapists currently follow. DORA also has to consult with the Colorado Medical Board to ensure public safety standards are met.

The legislation also draws a very clear legal boundary between this treatment and traditional Eastern medicine. The bill explicitly states that an OT performing dry needling is not practicing acupuncture. To ensure patients understand this distinction, OTs will be required to get written informed consent from every single patient. That consent form must lay out the potential risks and benefits of dry needling, and it must clearly state that the provider is an occupational therapist, not a licensed acupuncturist.

What It Means for You

If you’ve ever been injured on the job, in a car accident, or had surgery, you know that recovery often involves a team of people. While physical therapists focus on getting you moving, occupational therapists focus on helping you get back to your daily life—whether that’s typing at a computer, holding your toddler, or gripping a steering wheel.

Before this bill, if your occupational therapist realized your forearm was too tight to type and thought dry needling would help, they’d have to refer you to a physical therapist or an acupuncturist. That meant booking another appointment, driving to another clinic, and paying another co-pay. Starting September 1, 2027, you'll be able to get that treatment right then and there from the OT you already know and trust. It's a huge win for convenience and continuity of care, keeping your treatment under one roof and potentially saving you money on extra copays.

You also don't have to worry about being a guinea pig for an untrained provider. Because the law requires DORA to match the strict training standards already used by physical therapists, your OT will be highly trained before they ever uncap a needle. Plus, the mandatory informed consent ensures you'll never be surprised. Before any treatment begins, you'll be handed a document that clearly explains the risks, the benefits, and the fact that you are receiving dry needling, not acupuncture.

Just keep in mind that this isn't an overnight change. The state intentionally built in a long runway to get the safety rules right. You won't see this service offered by OTs until late 2027, but if you're managing long-term chronic pain or repetitive strain injuries, relief is officially on the horizon.

What It Means for Your Business

If you own a physical therapy practice, a multidisciplinary rehab clinic, or a senior care facility, this legislation is a direct boost to your operational efficiency. Right now, you likely rely heavily on a handful of certified physical therapists—or a contracted acupuncturist—to handle the growing patient demand for dry needling. By empowering your occupational therapists to provide this service, you can distribute your patient load much more evenly. This reduces wait times for your clients and allows you to increase your billable services without the headache of recruiting new specialized staff in a tight healthcare labor market.

While OTs cannot legally begin dry needling until September 1, 2027, smart clinic directors will start planning their workforce development now. You have plenty of time to budget for your occupational therapists to attend the necessary dry needling certification courses. Keep a close eye on the specific rules DORA drops by June 1, 2027. You'll need to ensure any continuing education or clinical training programs your staff enroll in actually meet the state's finalized supervisorial and educational prerequisites.

From a compliance and risk-management standpoint, you also need to prepare your front office. The law is incredibly strict about documentation. You will need to draft and implement a new written informed consent form specifically for your OT patients. This form must outline the risks and benefits of the procedure and prominently state that the occupational therapist is not an acupuncturist. Failing to include this exact statutory language could expose your practice to patient complaints and regulatory fines. You’ll also want to consult your commercial insurance broker ahead of the 2027 rollout to ensure your medical malpractice and liability coverages extend to OTs performing dry needling under your roof.

Follow the Money

From a taxpayer perspective, this is the best kind of legislation—it expands access to services without costing the state a dime. According to the nonpartisan fiscal note, HB26-1042 requires no new state appropriations.

The Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) will absorb the workload of rule-making, outreach, and processing any future disciplinary complaints using their existing resources, largely because they already oversee occupational therapists and the other professions that currently perform dry needling. The state might see a tiny bump in revenue down the line if fines are levied against OTs for disciplinary actions, but regulators assume healthcare professionals will have a high level of compliance. Ultimately, this is a regulatory shift that removes red tape without hitting the state budget.

Where This Bill Stands

HB26-1042 is currently Signed Into Law. The latest official action came on 04/02/2026: Governor Signed.

That means the legislative process is complete and the bill is now law. The remaining questions are about implementation timing and how agencies, businesses, or local governments respond.