Bill Text: CA SB1386 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Optometry.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-09-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 334, Statutes of 2018. [SB1386 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SB1386-Chaptered.html
| Senate Bill No. 1386 |
| CHAPTER 334 |
An act to amend Sections 3070 and 3077 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to professions and vocations.
[
Approved by
Governor
September 10, 2018.
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 10, 2018.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1386, McGuire.
Optometry.
The Optometry Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of optometry by the State Board of Optometry. The act prohibits engaging in the practice of optometry without an optometrist license from the board. The act specifies that the practice of optometry includes the prevention and diagnosis of disorders and dysfunctions of the visual system, and the treatment and management of certain disorders and dysfunctions of the visual system. Existing law requires an optometrist diagnosing or treating eye disease to be held to the same standard of care to which physicians and surgeons and osteopathic physicians and surgeons are held. Existing law specifies that a violation of the act is a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment, as provided.
Existing law requires each licensed optometrist, before engaging in the
practice of optometry, to notify the board in writing of the address or addresses where he or she is to engage in the practice of optometry and of any changes in his or her place of practice, after which a licensed optometrist is required to obtain a statement of licensure from the board to be placed in all practice locations other than an optometrist’s principal place of practice. Existing law exempts a licensed optometrist who holds a branch office license from the requirement to obtain a statement of licensure to practice at that branch office.
This bill would remove the exemption provided to a licensed optometrist who holds a branch office license from the requirement to obtain a statement of licensure to practice at that branch office. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law prohibits a person, singly or in combination with others, from having an office or
other place for the practice of optometry, unless he or she is licensed to practice optometry. Existing law authorizes an optometrist, or 2 or more optometrists jointly, to have one office without obtaining a branch office license from the board, however, an optometrist, and 2 or more optometrists jointly, are prohibited from having more than one office unless he, she, or they comply with specified licensure provisions as to the additional office, which constitutes a branch office.
This bill would remove those provisions relating to licensure of branch offices and would
prohibit an optometrist, or 2 or more optometrists jointly, from having more than 11 offices.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 3070 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:3070.
(a) Before engaging in the practice of optometry, each licensed optometrist shall notify the board in writing of the address or addresses where he or she is to engage in the practice of optometry and, also, of any changes in his or her place of practice. After providing the address or addresses and place of practice information to the board, a licensed optometrist shall obtain a statement of licensure from the board to be placed in all practice locations other than an optometrist’s principal place of practice. The practice of optometry is the performing or the controlling of any of the acts set forth in Section 3041.(b) A licensed optometrist is not required to provide the notification
described in subdivision (a) if he or she engages in the temporary practice of optometry. “Temporary practice” is defined as the practice of optometry at locations other than the optometrist’s principal place of practice for not more than five calendar days during a 30-day period, and not more than 36 days within a calendar year. This limitation shall apply to all practice locations where the licensed optometrist is engaging in temporary practice, not to each practice location individually. If the time period of the temporary practice needs to be extended for any reason, the licensed optometrist shall submit an application for a statement of licensure to the board pursuant to Section 1506 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 3075, an optometrist engaging in the temporary practice of optometry at a
location described in subdivision (b) shall carry and present upon demand evidence of his or her licensure but shall not be required to post his or her current license or other evidence of current license status issued by the board.
(d) In addition to the information required by Section 3076, a receipt issued to a patient by an optometrist engaging in the temporary practice of optometry at a location described in subdivision (b) shall contain the address of the optometrist’s primary practice location and the temporary practice location where the services were provided.
SEC. 2.
Section 3077 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:3077.
As used in this section, “office” means any office or other place for the practice of optometry.(a) No person, singly or in combination with others, may have an office unless he or she is licensed to practice optometry under this chapter.
(b) No optometrist, and no two or more optometrists jointly, may have more than
11 offices.
(c) Any failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall result in the suspension of the optometrist license of each optometrist who, individually or with others, has an office. An optometrist license so suspended shall not be restored except upon compliance with those provisions and the payment of the fee prescribed by this chapter for restoration of a license after suspension for failure to comply with
this section.
(d) The board shall have the power to adopt, amend, and repeal rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, neither an optometrist nor an individual practice association shall be deemed to have an additional office solely by reason of the optometrist’s participation in an individual practice association or the individual practice association’s creation or operation. As used in this subdivision, the term “individual practice association” means an entity that meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Complies with the definition of an optometric corporation in Section 3160.
(2) Operates primarily for the purpose of securing contracts with health care service plans or other third-party
payers that make available eye/vision services to enrollees or subscribers through a panel of optometrists.
(3) Contracts with optometrists to serve on the panel of optometrists, but does not obtain an ownership interest in, or
otherwise exercise control over, the respective optometric practices of those optometrists on the panel.
