Evidence status: CURRENT WORKERS’ COMPENSATION RULE/GUIDELINE REQUIREMENT. Colorado’s Division of Workers’ Compensation Chronic Pain Disorder Medical Treatment Guideline requires a contract/shared-decision agreement as part of chronic-opioid management for injured workers.

Who the requirement covers

The rule applies inside Colorado’s workers’ compensation system to injured workers treated under the Division’s chronic-pain medical treatment framework. It is not a universal outpatient pain-contract law for every Colorado patient.

Chronic-opioid agreement requirement

The guideline states that patients on chronic opioid medication dosages need to sign an appropriate opioid contract with the prescribing physician. In the detailed long-term management section, the same concept appears as a shared-decision-making agreement.

Enforceable workers’ compensation framework

Colorado’s Medical Treatment Guidelines are advisory and educational in purpose but are enforceable under Workers’ Compensation Rule 17. The Division recognizes that reasonable medical practice may include deviations when individual cases justify them.

Care outside the guideline

When a provider seeks treatment outside the guideline, Colorado’s workers’ compensation rules provide a prior-authorization process. The contract requirement therefore functions as part of the workers’ compensation treatment and payment framework rather than as a statewide professional-license contract mandate.

Primary sources

Reviewed: October 5, 2026.

Evidence boundary: The Contract-for-Care requirement identified here is a Colorado workers’ compensation standard. Colorado’s general chronic-pain law outside workers’ compensation does not impose the same universal signed-contract requirement.