Colorado § 12-270-109 - Supervision of occupational therapy assistants and aides.

§ 12-270-109. Supervision of occupational therapy assistants and aides.

(1) An occupational therapy assistant may practice only under the supervision of an occupational therapist who is licensed to practice occupational therapy in this state. The occupational therapist is responsible for occupational therapy evaluation, appropriate reassessment, treatment planning, interventions, and discharge from occupational therapy services based on standard professional guidelines. Supervision of an occupational therapy assistant by an occupational therapist is a shared responsibility. The supervising occupational therapist and the supervised occupational therapy assistant have legal and ethical responsibility for ongoing management of supervision, including providing, requesting, giving, or obtaining supervision. The supervising occupational therapist shall determine the frequency, level, and nature of supervision with input from the occupational therapy assistant and shall base the supervision determination on a variety of factors, including the clients' required level of care, the treatment plan, and the experience and pertinent skills of the occupational therapy assistant.

(2) The supervising occupational therapist shall supervise the occupational therapy assistant in a manner that ensures that the occupational therapy assistant:

(a) Does not initiate or alter a treatment program without prior evaluation by and approval of the supervising occupational therapist;

(b) Obtains prior approval of the supervising occupational therapist before making adjustments to a specific treatment procedure; and

(c) Does not interpret data beyond the scope of the occupational therapy assistant's education and training.

(3) An aide shall function only under the guidance, responsibility, and supervision of an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant. The aide shall perform only specifically selected tasks for which the aide has been trained and has demonstrated competence to the occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant. The supervising occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant shall supervise the aide in a manner that ensures compliance with this subsection (3) and is subject to discipline under section 12-270-114 for failure to properly supervise an aide.

Source: L. 2021: Entire article RC&RE, (SB 21-003), ch. 4, p. 20, § 1, effective January 21.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-270-109 as it existed prior to 2020.