Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 3, September 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
320.310(1)(n)
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
320.240(4), (7), and (8)
that the board shall have the power to promulgate an administrative regulation
about what acts constitute unprofessional conduct.
KRS
320.310(1)(n) authorizes the
board to discipline a licensee who violates an administrative regulation
promulgated by the board. This administrative regulation establishes the acts
that constitute unprofessional conduct.
Section
1. An optometrist shall not practice optometry in an office if the
instruments and equipment, including office furniture, fixtures and
furnishings, contained therein are not maintained in a clean and sanitary
manner.
Section 2.
(1) An optometrist shall not give or receive
a fee, salary, commission, or other remuneration or thing of value, in any
manner, or under any pretext, to or from any person, firm, or corporation:
(a) In return for the referral of optometric
patients; or
(b) In order to secure
optometric patients.
(2)
An optometrist shall not enter into a contract, agreement, or arrangement, for
the hire or leasing of his professional services, except that upon the:
(a) Death of a Kentucky licensed optometrist,
the surviving spouse or estate of the deceased optometrist may contract
optometric services or employ a Kentucky licensed optometrist for a period not
to exceed eighteen (18) months from the time of death; or
(b) Permanent disability of a Kentucky
licensed optometrist, the spouse, legal guardian, or disabled optometrist may
contract optometric services or employ a Kentucky licensed optometrist for a
period not to exceed eighteen (18) months from the time of
disability.
(3) An
optometrist shall not be employed by an unlicensed optometrist, firm, or
corporation as an optometrist, except to the extent permitted by subsection (2)
of this section.
(4) Optometric
decision-making shall be determined by the optometrist and not determined by
outside influences or third parties.
(5) The provisions of subsections (1), (2),
and (3) of this section shall not prohibit employment of an optometrist by a:
(a) Licensed hospital;
(b) Licensed multidisciplinary health
clinic;
(c) Professional service
corporation; or
(d) Governmental
entity.
Section
3.
(1) An optometrist shall not
practice in premises where others engage in any unlawful, grossly
unprofessional, or incompetent practice, if that practice is known to the
optometrist, or would have been known to a person of reasonable
intelligence.
(2) An optometrist
shall not be associated with or share an office or fees with a person who is
engaged in the unauthorized practice of optometry.
Section 4. An optometrist shall keep the
visual welfare of the patient uppermost at all times and shall strive to see
that a person calling as a patient shall not lack visual care, regardless of
the person's financial status.
Section
5. An optometrist shall treat with confidentiality the
professional information obtained from the patient, except as otherwise
required by law.
Section 6.
(1) Instruments and equipment necessary to
perform the minimum examination specified in Section 7 of this administrative
regulation shall be maintained in an office where optometry is
practiced.
(2) It shall be
unprofessional conduct for an optometrist to fail to maintain in good working
order, or to be unable to operate, instruments and equipment necessary to
perform the minimum examination specified in Section 7 of this administrative
regulation.
Section 7.
(1) The procedures performed in a patient's
case shall be left to the professional judgment of the optometrist and
determined by the standard of care in optometry. If a complete eye examination
is warranted by profession standards, it shall be unprofessional conduct and
incompetence for an optometrist to fail to perform the following as part of a
minimum examination and keep a permanent record thereof:
(a) Complete case history (ocular, physical,
occupational, medical, generic, and other pertinent information);
(b) Chief ocular complaint;
(c) Aided and unaided visual
acuity;
(d) External examination
(eye and adnexa);
(e) Internal
ophthalmoscopic examination (media, lens, fundus, etc.);
(f) Neurological integrity;
(g) Static retinoscopy or auto
refractor;
(h) Far and near point
subjective;
(i) Test of
accommodation and convergence and binocular coordination at far and
near;
(j) For patients over
twenty-five (25), tonometry; and
(k)
Biomicroscopic examination.
(2) In addition to the above, the minimum
examination for contact lenses shall include the following:
(a) Use of Fluorescein or Rose Bengal dyes,
if indicated;
(b) Diagnostic
evaluation with lenses on eye; and
(c) Corneal curvature measurements
dioptral.
Section
8. An act constituting a violation of KRS Chapter 320 shall be
unprofessional conduct.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS
320.240(4), (7),
(8)
