The Governor signed the Scope and Licensing Bill, HF 3825, into law on May 27, 2026. This bill included both revisions to our PT Practice Act and language protecting PTs’ rights to perform dry needling in Minnesota. A huge shout-out to our State Government Affairs team, led by Anne Johnson and Kathleen Picard, our lobbyist Josh Ney, and all the members who supported our efforts. This is a tremendous victory for our profession and our patients
The new updates to the PT Practice Act modernize statutory language while reinforcing patient safety, PT accountability, and collaborative care delivery. The changes maintain current supervision requirements while improving clarity, consistency, and access to care.
This updated language:
- Clarifies the PT’s responsibility for patient care and for the direction and supervision of PTAs
- Allows required supervisory visits to occur via telehealth or in-person, helping prevent unnecessary interruptions in patient care, particularly in rural settings and small clinics
- Removes confusing “initial treatment” language to improve clarity and consistency
- Strengthens expectations for collaboration and communication between PTs and PTAs
- Supports modern, team-based PT/PTA care delivery
- Modernizes student supervision terminology to align with national education and licensure standards
- Allows PTAs to supervise PTA students as part of a PT/PTA team, without the previous requirement of the PT needing to be physically present.
- Does not change current student supervision models, PTA scope of practice, or supervision frequency
Importantly, these updates do not reduce supervision expectations or expand PTA scope of practice. Instead, they clarify and modernize statutory language to better reflect current physical therapy education, clinical practice, and team-based care models while maintaining PT oversight, accountability, and high-quality patient care.