100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB5871

 

Introduced , by Rep. Keith R. Wheeler

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
225 ILCS 80/3  from Ch. 111, par. 3903
225 ILCS 80/16  from Ch. 111, par. 3916

    Amends the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987. Removes language allowing the Department to establish the educational requirements for performing advanced optometric procedures by rule. Provides that the practice of optometry includes advanced optometric procedures only upon successful completion of an advanced optometric training and testing program approved by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Provides that the Department may adopt rules to approve an advanced optometric training and testing program. Provides that schools or colleges of optometry offering the advanced optometric training and testing program shall submit a list of persons who have successfully completed the program to the Department on an annual basis or upon the Department's request. Provides that an applicant seeking licensure renewal shall complete 30 hours of continuing education relevant to the practice of optometry during each pre-renewal period. Provides that an optometrist providing advanced optometric procedures must complete an additional 6 hours of continuing education in advanced optometric procedures during each pre-renewal period. Makes other changes.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    WHEREAS, The legislative power in the State of Illinois is
3vested in a General Assembly consisting of a Senate and a House
4of Representatives, elected by the electors from 59 Legislative
5Districts and 118 Representative Districts; and
 
6    WHEREAS, It is the Illinois General Assembly's principal
7activities to enact, amend, or repeal laws, pass resolutions,
8adopt appropriation bills, and conduct inquiries on proposed
9legislation; and
 
10    WHEREAS, It is the General Assembly's belief that
11boundaries between licensed professions in Illinois should be
12set by the legislature to ensure the best protection for
13Illinois citizens and professions; therefore
 
14    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
15represented in the General Assembly:
 
16    Section 5. The Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987 is
17amended by changing Sections 3 and 16 as follows:
 
18    (225 ILCS 80/3)  (from Ch. 111, par. 3903)
19    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)
20    Sec. 3. Practice of optometry defined; referrals;

 

 

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1manufacture of lenses and prisms.
2    (a) The practice of optometry is defined as the employment
3of any and all means for the examination, diagnosis, and
4treatment of the human visual system, the human eye, and its
5appendages without the use of surgery, including, but not
6limited to: the appropriate use of ocular pharmaceutical
7agents; refraction and other determinants of visual function;
8prescribing corrective lenses or prisms; prescribing,
9dispensing, or management of contact lenses; vision therapy;
10visual rehabilitation; or any other procedures taught in
11schools and colleges of optometry approved by the Department,
12and not specifically restricted in this Act, subject to
13demonstrated competency and training as required by the Board,
14and pursuant to rule or regulation approved by the Board and
15adopted by the Department.
16    A person shall be deemed to be practicing optometry within
17the meaning of this Act who:
18        (1) In any way presents himself or herself to be
19    qualified to practice optometry.
20        (2) Performs refractions or employs any other
21    determinants of visual function.
22        (3) Employs any means for the adaptation of lenses or
23    prisms.
24        (4) Prescribes corrective lenses, prisms, vision
25    therapy, visual rehabilitation, or ocular pharmaceutical
26    agents.

 

 

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1        (5) Prescribes or manages contact lenses for
2    refractive, cosmetic, or therapeutic purposes.
3        (6) Evaluates the need for, or prescribes, low vision
4    aids to partially sighted persons.
5        (7) Diagnoses or treats any ocular abnormality,
6    disease, or visual or muscular anomaly of the human eye or
7    visual system.
8        (8) Practices, or offers or attempts to practice,
9    optometry as defined in this Act either on his or her own
10    behalf or as an employee of a person, firm, or corporation,
11    whether under the supervision of his or her employer or
12    not.
13    (a-5) The practice of optometry also includes the following
14advanced optometric procedures only upon successful completion
15of an advanced optometric training and testing program approved
16by the Department:
17        (1) Subcutaneous, intradermal, and subconjunctival
18    injections. However, retrobulbar, intraocular, and
19    botulinum injections are not permitted.
20        (2) Excision, removal, or destruction of a chalazion.
21        (3) Excision, removal, or destruction of benign or
22    superficial lesions.
23        (4) Removal of skin tags.
24        (5) Incision and drainage of cysts.
25        (6) Epilation by means other than forceps.
26        (7) Corneal debridement, other than dead tissue, not

 

 

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1    including removal of pterygium or corneal neoplasias.
2        (8) Biopsy, excluding corneal biopsy.
3    Advanced optometric procedures do not include the use of
4lasers or general anesthesia.
5    (a-10) The Department may adopt rules to approve programs
6offering training and testing in advanced optometric
7procedures.
8    Nothing in this Section shall require an applicant for
9licensure at an approved school or college of optometry to
10complete separate training and testing if, in the course of his
11or her education, all the requirements adopted by the
12Department for an approved training and testing program in
13advanced optometric procedures have been met.
14    Schools or colleges of optometry offering advanced
15optometric training and testing programs approved by the
16Department shall submit to the Department, on an annual basis,
17or more frequently upon the Department's request, a list of
18persons who have successfully completed the training and
19testing program described in this subsection (a-10).
20    An optometrist providing advanced optometric procedures
21must maintain documentations indicating his or her successful
22completion of the training and testing program described in
23this subsection (a-10) and must produce such documentations for
24the Department upon request.
25    (a-15) Nothing in this Section shall be interpreted (A) to
26prevent a person from functioning as an assistant under the

 

 

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1direct supervision of a person licensed by the State of
2Illinois to practice optometry or medicine in all of its
3branches or (B) to prohibit visual screening programs that are
4conducted without a fee (other than voluntary donations), by
5charitable organizations acting in the public welfare under the
6supervision of a committee composed of persons licensed by the
7State of Illinois to practice optometry or persons licensed by
8the State of Illinois to practice medicine in all of its
9branches.
10    (b) When, in the course of providing optometric services to
11any person, an optometrist licensed under this Act finds an
12indication of a disease or condition of the eye which in his or
13her professional judgment requires professional service
14outside the scope of practice as defined in this Act, he or she
15shall refer such person to a physician licensed to practice
16medicine in all of its branches, or other appropriate health
17care practitioner. Nothing in this Act shall preclude an
18optometrist from rendering appropriate nonsurgical emergency
19care.
20    (c) Nothing contained in this Section shall prohibit a
21person from manufacturing ophthalmic lenses and prisms or the
22fabrication of contact lenses according to the specifications
23prescribed by an optometrist or a physician licensed to
24practice medicine in all of its branches, but shall
25specifically prohibit (1) the sale or delivery of ophthalmic
26lenses, prisms, and contact lenses without a prescription

 

 

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1signed by an optometrist or a physician licensed to practice
2medicine in all of its branches and (2) the dispensing of
3contact lenses by anyone other than a licensed optometrist,
4licensed pharmacist, or a physician licensed to practice
5medicine in all of its branches. For the purposes of this Act,
6"contact lenses" include, but are not limited to, contact
7lenses with prescriptive power and decorative and plano power
8contact lenses. Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the sale
9of contact lenses by an optical firm or corporation primarily
10engaged in manufacturing or dealing in eyeglasses or contact
11lenses with an affiliated optometrist who practices and is
12licensed or has an ancillary registration for the location
13where the sale occurs.
14    (d) Nothing in this Act shall restrict the filling of a
15prescription by a pharmacist licensed under the Pharmacy
16Practice Act.
17    (e) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to restrict the
18dispensing and sale by an optometrist of ocular devices, such
19as contact lenses, that contain and deliver ocular
20pharmaceutical agents permitted for use or prescription under
21this Act.
22    (f) (Blank). On and after January 1, 2018, nothing in this
23Act shall prohibit an optometrist who is certified by a school
24of optometry approved by the Department from performing
25advanced optometric procedures, pursuant to educational
26requirements established by rule, that are consistent with the

 

 

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1recommendations of the Collaborative
2Optometric/Ophthalmological Task Force created in Section 15.3
3of this Act and that are taught (1) at an accredited, private
44-year school of optometry that is located in a city in
5Illinois with a population in excess of 1,500,000, or (2) at a
6school of optometry with a curriculum that is substantially
7similar to the curriculum taught at the school of optometry
8described in item (1) of this subsection. Advanced optometric
9procedures do not include the use of lasers.
10(Source: P.A. 98-186, eff. 8-5-13; 99-909, eff. 1-1-17.)
 
11    (225 ILCS 80/16)  (from Ch. 111, par. 3916)
12    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)
13    Sec. 16. Renewal, reinstatement or restoration of
14licenses; military service. The expiration date and renewal
15period for each license issued under this Act shall be set by
16rule.
17    All renewal applicants shall provide proof of having met
18the requirements of continuing education set forth in the rules
19of the Department. The Department shall, by rule, provide for
20an orderly process for the reinstatement of licenses which have
21not been renewed due to failure to meet the continuing
22education requirements. The continuing education requirement
23may be waived for such good cause, including but not limited to
24illness or hardship, as defined by rules of the Department.
25    The Department shall establish by rule a means for the

 

 

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1verification of completion of the continuing education
2required by this Section. This verification may be accomplished
3through audits of records maintained by registrants; by
4requiring the filing of continuing education certificates with
5the Department; or by other means established by the
6Department.
7    A licensee seeking renewal of his or her license shall
8complete 30 hours of continuing education relevant to the
9practice of optometry during each pre-renewal period. As used
10in this paragraph, "pre-renewal period" means the 24 months
11preceding March 31 in the year of the renewal. An optometrist
12providing advanced optometric procedures described in
13subsection (a-5) of Section 3 must complete an additional 6
14hours of continuing education in advanced optometric
15procedures during each pre-renewal period. The 6 additional
16hours must be certified as defined by rule, and the licensee
17must otherwise meet all continuing education requirements of
18this Section.
19    Any licensee seeking renewal of his or her license during
20the renewal cycle beginning April 1, 2008 must first complete a
21tested educational course in the use of oral pharmaceutical
22agents for the management of ocular conditions, as approved by
23the Board.
24    Any optometrist who has permitted his or her license to
25expire or who has had his or her license on inactive status may
26have his or her license restored by making application to the

 

 

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1Department and filing proof acceptable to the Department of his
2or her fitness to have his or her license restored and by
3paying the required fees. Such proof of fitness may include
4evidence certifying to active lawful practice in another
5jurisdiction and must include proof of the completion of the
6continuing education requirements specified in the rules for
7the preceding license renewal period that has been completed
8during the 2 years prior to the application for license
9restoration.
10    The Department shall determine, by an evaluation program
11established by rule, his or her fitness for restoration of his
12or her license and shall establish procedures and requirements
13for such restoration.
14    However, any optometrist whose license expired while he or
15she was (1) in Federal Service on active duty with the Armed
16Forces of the United States, or the State Militia called into
17service or training, or (2) in training or education under the
18supervision of the United States preliminary to induction into
19the military service, may have his or her license restored
20without paying any lapsed renewal fees if within 2 years after
21honorable termination of such service, training, or education,
22he or she furnishes the Department with satisfactory evidence
23to the effect that he or she has been so engaged and that his or
24her service, training, or education has been so terminated.
25    All licenses without "Therapeutic Certification" on March
2631, 2006 shall be placed on non-renewed status and may only be

 

 

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1renewed after the licensee meets those requirements
2established by the Department that may not be waived. All
3licensees on March 31, 2010 without a certification of
4completion of an oral pharmaceutical course as required by this
5Section shall be placed on non-renewed status and may only be
6renewed after the licensee meets those requirements
7established by the Department that may not be waived.
8(Source: P.A. 95-242, eff. 1-1-08; 96-270, eff. 1-1-10.)