Bill Text: CA SB492 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Optometrist: practice: licensure.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-21 - Ordered to inactive file on request of Assembly Member V. Manuel PĂ©rez. [SB492 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB492-Amended.html
Bill Title: Optometrist: practice: licensure.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-21 - Ordered to inactive file on request of Assembly Member V. Manuel PĂ©rez. [SB492 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB492-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 492 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2013 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 1, 2013 INTRODUCED BY Senator Hernandez FEBRUARY 21, 2013 An act to repeal and add Sections 3041 and 3041.2 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to optometry. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 492, as amended, Hernandez. Optometrist: practice: licensure. The Optometry Practice Act creates the State Board of Optometry, which licenses optometrists and regulates their practice. Existing law defines the practice of optometry to include, among other things, 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, as well as the provision of rehabilitative optometric services, and doing certain things, including, but not limited to, the examination of the human eyes, the determination of the powers or range of human vision, and the prescribing of contact and spectacle lenses. Existing law provides that the State Board of Optometry is required, by regulation, to establish educational and examination requirements for licensure to ensure the competence of optometrists to practice. Any violation of the act is a crime. This bill would delete the definition of the practice of optometry and would instead provide that a licensed optometrist would be authorized to perform certain health-related services, including, but not limited to, examining, preventing, diagnosing, and treating any disease, condition, or disorder of the visual system, the human eye, and adjacent and related structures of the visual system , prescribing appropriate drugs, including narcotics, and administering immunizations and to diagnose other common primary care conditions that have ocular manifestations . The bill would also authorize an optometrist, who is operating under a protocol with a physician and surgeon or a health care facility, or participating in a specified system of care in which the patient is being otherwise treated, to initiate treatment and manage medications for those diagnosed conditions. The bill would require the board to require applicants for licensure to successfully complete specified examinations, and would authorize the board to require the passage of additional examinations with regard to competency to utilize diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agents, if not covered by the required examinations. Because this bill would change the definition of a crime, it would create a state-mandated local program. 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. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 3041 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed. SEC. 2. Section 3041 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 3041. (a) An optometrist license authorizes the holder to do all of the following: (1) Examine, prevent, diagnose, and treat any disease, condition, or disorder of the visual system, the human eye, and adjacent and related structures of the visual system . (2) The use or prescription of appropriate drugs, including narcotic substances other than those listed in Schedule 1. (3) The performance of minor surgical and nonsurgical primary eye care procedures requiring no more than topical or local anesthetic, or both , consistent with an optometrist's education and training . (4) The use or prescription of visual therapy, ocular exercises or vision habilitation, and rehabilitation services. (5) The performance or ordering of appropriate laboratory and diagnostic imaging tests. (b) An optometrist may administer immunizations. (c) In addition to diagnosing and treating conditions of the visual system pursuant to subdivision (a), an optometrist may diagnose other common primary care conditions that have ocular manifestations, initiate treatment, and, in consultation with a physician, manage medications for these conditions. (d) In addition to the authority provided in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, an optometrist who is operating under a protocol with a physician and surgeon or a health care facility, or participating in a medical home, accountable care organization, or other system of care in which the patient is being otherwise treated, may initiate treatment and manage medications for conditions diagnosed pursuant to subdivision (c). SEC. 3. Section 3041.2 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed. SEC. 4. Section 3041.2 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 3041.2. (a) The State Board of Optometry shall establish, by regulation, educational and examination requirements for licensure to ensure the competence of optometrists to practice. (b) On and after January 1, 2014, the board shall require each applicant for licensure to successfully complete the Part I, Part II, and Part III examinations of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry. (c) On and after January 1, 2014, the board shall require each applicant for licensure to successfully complete an examination in California law and ethics developed and administered by the board. (d) On and after January 1, 2014, the board may require passage of additional examinations to ensure the competency of licentiates to utilize diagnostic and therapeutic pharmaceutical agents, if not otherwise covered by the examinations required pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b). SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.