Pennsylvania Code
Title 49 - PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS
Part I - DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Subpart A - PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS
Chapter 23 - STATE BOARD OF OPTOMETRY
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 23.1 - Definitions
Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Act-The Optometric Practice and Licensure Act (63 P.S. §§ 244.1-244.12).
Board-The State Board of Optometry of the Commonwealth.
Bodily injury-Impairment of physical condition or substantial pain.
Bureau-The Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs within the Department of State of the Commonwealth.
Child-An individual under 18 years of age.
Child abuse-Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly doing any of the following:
(i) Causing bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act.
(ii) Fabricating, feigning or intentionally exaggerating or inducing a medical symptom or disease which results in a potentially harmful medical evaluation or treatment to the child through any recent act.
(iii) Causing or substantially contributing to serious mental injury to a child through any act or failure to act or a series of these acts or failures to act.
(iv) Causing sexual abuse or exploitation of a child through any act or failure to act.
(v) Creating a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act.
(vi) Creating a likelihood of sexual abuse or exploitation of a child through any recent act or failure to act.
(vii) Causing serious physical neglect of a child.
(viii) Engaging in any of the following recent acts:
(ix) Causing the death of the child through any act or failure to act.
(x) Engaging a child in a severe form of trafficking in persons or sex trafficking, as those terms are defined under section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Division A of Pub.L. No. 106-386).
ChildLine-An organizational unit of the Department of Human Services, which operates a 24-hour a day Statewide toll-free telephone system for receiving reports of suspected child abuse, referring reports for investigation and maintaining the reports in the appropriate file.
Clinical skills assessment examination-A clinical skills competency examination developed, prepared, administered and scored by the NBEO, which the Board adopts as the State clinical examination for licensure.
Contact lens-A medical device or any other item or device of any material, tissue or power, including plano or zero-powered, that is required to be dispensed by prescription, and is placed directly on the cornea or the cornea and sclera to do any of the following:
(i) Correct vision conditions.
(ii) Act as a diagnostic or therapeutic device.
(iii) Provide a cosmetic or decorative effect.
Continuing education hour-Fifty minutes of continuing education.
Continuing education program-A group, self-study, correspondence or other program approved by the Board for which continuing education hours are given.
Inactive status-The status of not having one-s license currently registered.
Mandated reporter-A person who is required under 23 Pa.C.S. § 6311 (relating to persons required to report suspected child abuse) to make a report of suspected child abuse. For the purposes of this chapter, the term includes all licensed optometrists.
NBEO-The National Board of Examiners in Optometry.
National Board Examination-A written academic examination developed, prepared, administered and scored by the NBEO, which the Board adopts as the National uniform written examination for licensure.
Parent-A biological parent, adoptive parent or legal guardian.
Perpetrator-A person who has committed child abuse as defined in this section. The following apply:
(i) This term includes only the following:
(ii) Only the following may be considered a perpetrator for failing to act, as provided in this section:
Person responsible for the child-s welfare-A person who provides permanent or temporary care, supervision, mental health diagnosis or treatment, training or control of a child in lieu of parental care, supervision and control.
Program, activity or service-Any of the following in which children participate and which is sponsored by a school or a public or private organization:
(i) A youth camp or program.
(ii) A recreational camp or program.
(iii) A sports or athletic program.
(iv) A community or social outreach program.
(v) An enrichment or educational program.
(vi) A troop, club or similar organization.
Recent act or failure to act-An act or failure to act committed within 2 years of the date of the report to the Department of Human Services or county agency.
Retired practitioner-One who is no longer engaged in the practice of optometry as defined in section 2 of the act (63 P.S. § 244.2; see definition of --practice of optometry--).
Serious mental injury-A psychological condition, as diagnosed by a physician or licensed psychologist, including the refusal of appropriate treatment, that does one or more of the following:
(i) Renders a child chronically and severely anxious, agitated, depressed, socially withdrawn, psychotic or in reasonable fear that the child-s life or safety is threatened.
(ii) Seriously interferes with a child-s ability to accomplish age-appropriate developmental and social tasks.
Serious physical neglect-Any of the following when committed by a perpetrator that endangers a child-s life or health, threatens a child-s well-being, causes bodily injury or impairs a child-s health, development or functioning:
(i) A repeated, prolonged or egregious failure to supervise a child in a manner that is appropriate considering the child-s developmental age and abilities.
(ii) The failure to provide a child with adequate essentials of life, including food, shelter or medical care.
Sexual abuse or exploitation-Any of the following:
(i) The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement or coercion of a child to engage in or assist another individual to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which includes the following:
(ii) Any of the following offenses committed against a child:
(iii) For the purposes of subparagraph (i), the term does not include consensual activities between a child who is 14 years of age or older and another person who is 14 years of age or older and whose age is within 4 years of the child-s age.
TMOD-Treatment and Management of Ocular Disease Examination-An examination developed, prepared, administered and scored by NBEO, which the Board adopts as the examination for certification in pharmaceutical agents for therapeutic purposes.
Vision therapy-A term meaning any of the following:
(i) Design of treatment plans for problems of eye teaming, focusing, tracking, sensory adaptation and visual information processing.
(ii) Prescription of devices and procedures that modify the oculomotor and sensory aspects of the visual process.
(iii) Orthoptics.
Visual rehabilitation-A term meaning any of the following:
(i) Diagnosis of a visual impairment.
(ii) Prescription of lenses, prisms, filters, occluders mirrors, and optical and electrooptical magnification and minification.
(iii) Design of treatment plans to compensate for central and peripheral visual field defects.
Vision screening-The limited process of surveying an individual for problem areas such as visual acuity, eye muscle coordination and refractive error.
The provisions of this §23.1 added and amended under the Optometric Practice and Licensure Act (63 P.S. §§ 244.1-244.12); section 812.1 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. § 279.3a); and 23 Pa.C.S. § 6383(b)(2).
This section cited in 49 Pa. Code § 23.115 (relating to confidentiality-waived).
