069.00.92 Ark. Code R. 001

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024

Rule 069.00.92-001 - Proposed Changes, Additions, Corrections, Etc. to the Rules and Regulations of Arkansas State Board of Optometry

ARTICLE V RENEWALS

Section 3

The license and the current certificate of renewal -of license to practice optometry issued, will always be displayed in a conspicuous place in the office of the holder thereof, and whenever requested the license and the current certificate of renewal will be exhibited or produced before the Arkansas State Board of Optometry, or to its authorized agents.

Any optometrist who performs any of the acts constituting the practice of optometry, or any part thereof, as described in the Arkansas Optometry Law (ann. 17-89-101) or who employs others to perform any or all of the same, shall specify to the State Board of Optometry a designation for each location where full or partial practice takes place. Recognizing that modes of practice vary from location to location, and such modes of practice may include the utilization of a primary office only, a rotation between branch offices, or the combination of a primary office and one or more branch offices, the Board does hereby set forth rules and regulations governing both the definition of office designations and the requirements and restrictions pertaining to the same. It is the express intent of these rules and regulations to ensure that all offices, whether primary offices or branch offices, are regulated in a like manner. The requirements for primary offices must be no less than those for branch offices.

(1) A primary office is defined as: the permanent location at which a licensed optometrist practices full time, or if practicing in more than one location, the office at which he or she practices the greatest percentage of. time, or if practicing with a mobile branch office, that office the licensee utilizes for record storage, equipment maintenance, and patient availability in conjunction with the mobile operation.

(2) A branch office is defined as any office, other than the primary office, at which a licensed optometrist or employee or agent of a licensed optometrist solicits patients either directly or indirectly and in a premeditated fashion for the purpose of rendering any type of optometric services, including the measuring, repairing, ordering, dispensing, verifying, or adjusting of ophthalmic materials or spectacle lens prescriptions.

(a) A fixed branch office is a branch office as defined above which is at a permanent location.

(b) A mobile branch office is a mobile operation utilized for the practice of optometry at multiple locations.

(3) Availability is the reasonable ability to ensure provision of optometric care in a timely manner as warranted by patient needs, including but not limited to emergencies.

A licensee who practices in more than one (1) office location shall make application to the Board for a duplicate license for each branch office for display as required by this section. In issuing a duplicate license, the address of the branch office location and the original certificate number shall be included. At the time of the annual renewal of the license, those optometrists who have been issued a duplicate license for a branch office, shall make application to the Arkansas State Board of Optometry on a form provided by the Board for the renewal of the license. The holder of a certificate for a branch office may cancel it by returning the certificate to the Secretary of the Board.

The fee for a duplicate license for each branch office shall be $50.00, to be renewed annually.

A licensed optometrist practicing in more than one (1) office shall provide information to patients as to how he or she, or another licensed optometrist may be contacted during regular business hours.

Section 4

Each licensed optometrist must comply with the following: (the remainder of the section is unchanged)

Section 5

Requirements and restrictions for primary offices:

Each licensed optometrist owning or using a primary office only shall:

(1) Report to the Board the street address and telephone number of the office designated as the primary office.

(2) Maintain reasonable access to all 'patient records at the primary office location for each patient examined or treated at that location.

(3) Ensure the provision of appropriate follow-up care, continuity of care, and availability for his or her patients in the primary office location.

(4) Maintain in good working order the equipment necessary to provide a routine eye examination. This shall include, but not be limited to, the following minimum visual acuity, a lensometer, a direct ophthalmoscope, a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope (DPA and/or TPA certified practitioners only), a retinoscope, an instrument for the measurement of intra-ocular pressure a refracting instrument, an instrument for measurement of corneal curvature, an instrument for the measurement of visual fields, and a biomicroscope,

(5) Ensure that a licensed optometrist be in personal attendance at least twenty per-cent (20%) of the time, per month the primary office is open seeing patients.

(6) Meet all the requirements of the Arkansas Optometry Law, Act 397 of the Acts of Arkansas-1991 (ann. 17-89-303).

Section 6

Requirements and restrictions for fixed branch offices:

Each licensed optometrist owning or using one or more fixed branch offices shall:

(1) Report to the Board each fixed branch office location other than a primary office at which he or she is practicing optometry.

(2) Maintain reasonable access to all patient records at each fixed branch office location for each patient examined or treated at that location.

(3) Ensure the provision of appropriate follow-up care, continuity of care, and availability for his or her patients in the fixed branch office location.

(4) Maintain in good working order the equipment necessary to provide a routine eye examination. This shall include, but not be limited to, the following minimum equipment: a device for the accurate measurement of visual acuity, a lensometer, a direct ophthalmoscope, a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope (DPA and/or TPA certified practitioners only), a retinoscope, an instrument for the measurement of intra-ocular pressure, a refracting instrument, an instrument for measurement of corneal curvature, an instrument for the measurement of visual fields, and a biomicroscope.

(5) Ensure that a licensed optometrist be in personal attendance at least twenty per-cent (20%) of the time, per month, the fixed branch office is open.

(6) Meet all the requirements of the Arkansas Optometry Law, Act 397 of the Acts of Arkansas-1991 (ann. 17-89-303).

Section 7

Requirements and restrictions for mobile branch offices:

Each licensed optometrist owning or using a mobile operation shall:

(1) Report to the Board the office at which he or she is keeping all patient records.

(2) Provide every patient with the telephone number and address of the office used in conjunction with the mobile operation.

(3) Maintain reasonable access to all patient records at the office.

(4) Ensure personal availability via the use of a beeper, mobile telephone, radio, or other modality that is capable of receiving calls from the office while the licensed practitioner is practicing at one of the various locations served by the mobile operation.

(5) Ensure the provision of appropriate follow-up care, continuity of care, and availability for his or her patients in every location served by the mobile operation.

(6) Maintain and use appropriate facilities for the storage and transit of all pharmaceutical agents used by the licensed practitioner or certified optometrist which will ensure the safety and condition of such agents when they are in transit or being stored.

(7) Maintain in good working order the equipment necessary to provide a routine eye examination. This shall include, but not be limited to, the following minimum equipment: A device for the accurate measurement of visual acuity, a lensometer a direct ophthalmoscope, a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope ( DPA and/or TPA certified practitioners only), a retinoscope, an instrument for the measurement of intra-ocular pressure, a refracting instrument, an instrument for measurement of corneal curvature, an instrument for the measurement of visual fields, and a biomicroscope.

(8) Ensure that a licensed optometrist be in personal attendance at least twenty per-cent (20%) of the time, per month, the mobile branch office is open.

(9) Meet all the requirements of the Arkansas Optometry Law, Act 397 of the Acts of Arkansas-1991 (ann. 17-89-303).

Section 8

(1) Any licensed optometrist who owns, operates, or leases to or from another person any type of office (practice) or optical dispensary as dispensary as described in section 3(1) an/or (2) of the Rules and Regulations of the Arkansas the State Board of Optometry, or who employs others to do the same, shall include his or her full name, displayed in a prominent fashion, on, or near, the entrance of the office or optical dispensary, and in any written advertisement, concerning such operation, so that the public is properly informed as to the licensed optometrist responsible for the materials and services offered at such locations.

(2) In addition, at each location, the full name of the licensed optometrist physically present and responsible for the provision of optical goods and/or services on each particular day shall be displayed in a prominent fashion, on or near, the entrance of the office or optical dispensary.

Section 9

Failure to comply with any of the requirement contained herein in ARTICLE V RENEWALS, Rules and Regulations of the Arkansas State Board of Optometry shall be grounds for suspension or revocation of the practitioner's license to practice.

ARTICLE VI Unprofessional Conduct

Section 1

g. For any optometrist to be convicted of a felony or to be identified by the Board as impaired. "Impaired" shall means the presence of active alcoholism, substance (drug) abuse, and/or any other mental illness resulting in professional incompetence (i.e. the inability or failure of practitioner to practice optometry with reasonable skill and safety.)

BE IT KNOWN that we, Marc Parnell, O.D., President and Howard F. Flippin, O.D., Secretary, Arkansas State Board of Optometry, do hereby state under oath that we have examined the minutes of the meeting of the Board officially convened on October 1, 1992, and the foregoing amendment to the rules and regulations was duly adopted by said Board and certified to the Governor of the State of Arkansas, Secretary of State of the State of Arkansas, and the Circuit Clerk of each county in the state of Arkansas pursuant to the powers and duties invested in said Board by Act 94 of 1941, as amended.

Dated this 1st day November, 1992.

Marc Parnell/, O.D. President

Howard F. Flippin, O.D. Sec.

069.00.92 Ark. Code R. 001

10/17/1992