OWCP Physical Therapy in Denver: What DOL Covers and How to Get Authorized

1. PT must be tied to your accepted condition

OWCP authorizes treatment for the specific body part and diagnosis accepted on your claim. If your claim was accepted for a lumbar strain and your therapy notes are all about the shoulder, those bills get denied. Your referral, therapy plan, and progress notes should all name the accepted diagnosis and ICD codes.

2. Authorization basics

• An initial course of therapy is generally authorized on the treating physician's prescription
• Extended or continued therapy typically requires a request with objective progress documented
• Each request should state frequency, duration, and functional goals — not just "PT as needed"
• Keep your claim number on every therapy document so bills route correctly through DOL

3. Documentation OWCP actually wants to see

Objective measures win authorizations: range of motion in degrees, strength grades, measured walking tolerance, lifting capacity in pounds. "Patient feels better" doesn't support continued care — and it doesn't support your work restrictions either. Well-written PT notes also feed directly into your CA-17 restrictions and your physician's CA-20 narrative.

4. Why in-house PT matters for federal claims

When your physician and physical therapist work in the same building, records don't get lost between offices, restrictions get updated the same week your capacity changes, and re-authorization requests go out before therapy lapses. Our Denver team includes Charlie Johansen, DPT and Chris Derrevere, PTA, working alongside Dr. Chris Main, DO.

5. Further reading

More OWCP education, interviews, and claim breakdowns: owcp.doctor. Our Kansas City program page covers the same OWCP therapy rules for Midwest federal workers: OWCP federal workers' compensation in Kansas City.