Evidence status: CURRENT MULTI-PROFESSION EDUCATION FRAMEWORK. Colorado requires multiple opioid-prescribing professions to complete substance-use and opioid-prescribing education as a condition of license renewal, reactivation, or reinstatement, subject to specified exemptions.

Professions covered

The training framework applies across the Colorado Medical Board, State Board of Nursing, Colorado Dental Board, State Board of Optometry, Colorado Podiatry Board, and State Board of Veterinary Medicine.

Required education subjects

The profession-specific rules must address:

• Best practices for opioid prescribing under the Division’s current prescribing guidelines.
• Recognition of substance-use disorders.
• Referral of patients with substance-use disorders for treatment.
• Use of the electronic Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.

Exemptions

Boards may exempt licensees whose national board certification already requires equivalent training or who attest that they do not prescribe opioids.

Guidelines versus binding contract rules

Colorado’s opioid-prescribing guidelines and educational requirements shape professional practice but should not be confused with a universal signed patient-contract mandate. The workers’ compensation contract requirement arises from a different authority.

Primary source

• Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations — opioid-prescribing education requirements

Reviewed: October 5, 2026.

Evidence boundary: Education and professional guidance are distinct from workers’ compensation Rule 17 and from the chronic-pain protections in §12-30-109.5.