Authority: IC 25-10-1-1.5

Affected: IC 25-1-4-0.2; IC 25-1-9; IC 25-10-1-6

Sec. 1. (a) Twenty-four (24) hours of continuing education obtained by attending seminars approved by an approved organization listed in IC 25-1-4-0.2 are required for license renewal. Seminars that have not been approved under this rule will not be accepted as credit for license renewal.

(b) A licensee is not required to complete continuing education requirements for the year in which the initial license is issued.

(c) Continuing education credit units or clock hours must be obtained within the current biennial renewal period and may not be carried over from one (1) licensure period to another. However, a maximum of twelve (12) hours must be obtained within each licensure year of the biennial renewal period.

(d) Continuing education credit units or clock hours must include four (4) hours per year in public health or risk management or 846 IAC 1-3-2.

(e) Risk management is defined as the chiropractor's legal responsibility to his or her patient as provided by 846 IAC 1-3-3 and IC 25-1-9.

(f) A licensee may not earn more than eight (8) hours of continuing education credit units or clock hours on any day. This eight (8) hour maximum also applies to continuing education for a course described in subsection (g) of this rule that includes one (1) or more days of instruction exceeding eight (8) hours per day.

(g) Before performing dry needling on any patient, a licensee must have completed, on or after January 1, 2016, a single course of instruction provided from an approved organization listed in IC 25-1-4-0.2 that meets all of the following criteria:

1. (1) Instructed only by licensed chiropractors, medical doctors, osteopaths, or doctors of physical therapy who are classified as doctors of physical therapy by educational degree or a state professional licensing statute or rule. At the time of instruction of the course, each instructor must:

   1. (A) Hold an active chiropractic, medical doctor, osteopath, or doctor of physical therapy license in at least one (1) state and not have any healthcare provider license in suspended or probationary status or revoked in any state; and
   2. (B) Have practiced dry needling for a minimum of two (2) years by instructing dry needling coursework at an accredited institution of higher education or treating patients in a professional office setting.

2. (2) A single course of instruction on utilizing dry needling to treat neuromusculoskeletal pain and dysfunction that is no fewer than fifty (50) hours of face-to-face instruction. The course may be completed in multiple parts or sessions and must cover, at a minimum, the following subject areas:

   1. (A) A comparison and contrasting of dry needling with acupuncture.
   2. (B) Physiology, pathophysiology, and differential diagnosis of the "trigger-point" phenomenon.
   3. (C) Indications and contradictions [sic, contraindications] of dry needling.
   4. (D) Clean needle techniques including instruction on blood-borne pathogens and proper disposal of used needles.
   5. (E) Anatomical review of the regions to be needles [sic, needled].
   6. (F) Postintervention patient care including the identification and management of common complications associated with dry needling with particular attention paid to pneumothorax.

3. (3) Requires an assessment, upon completion of the course, that demonstrates that the licensee has successfully learned, at a minimum, the following:

   1. (A) Appropriate patient selection, considering expected outcomes, contraindications, and the patient's ability to understand and comply with treatment requirements.
   2. (B) Appropriate communication of informed consent.
   3. (C) Appropriate demonstration of clean needle technique.
   4. (D) Accurate and appropriate treatment point selection.
   5. (E) Appropriate positioning and education of the patient.
   6. (F) Competent dry needling technique.
   7. (G) Proper supervision and monitoring of the patient during and after treatment.

(Board of Chiropractic Examiners; 846 IAC 1-8-1; filed May 31, 1988, 2:40 p.m.: 11 IR 3563; filed Jun 1, 1992, 5:00 p.m.: 15 IR 2244; filed Oct 31, 1994, 2:00 p.m.: 18 IR 879; readopted filed Jul 10, 2001, 2:55 p.m.: 24 IR 4236; readopted filed Oct 4, 2007, 3:34 p.m.: 20071031-IR-846070057RFA; readopted filed Nov 25, 2013, 9:18 a.m.: 20131225-IR-846130274RFA; readopted filed Nov 25, 2019, 12:19 p.m.: 20191225-IR-846190186RFA; filed Jan 6, 2021, 12:04 p.m.: 20210203-IR-846200279FRA)