STATE OF WISCONSIN
OPTOMETRY EXAMINING BOARD
IN THE MATTER OF RULEMAKING PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE
OPTOMETRY EXAMINING BOARD
PROPOSED ORDER OF THE OPTOMETRY EXAMINING BOARD
ADOPTING RULES
(CLEARINGHOUSE RULE )
PROPOSED ORDER
An order of the Optometry Examining Board to repeal Opt 8.02 (2), (3), (4), (8), (9) and (10); to amend Opt 8.02 (1); to repeal and recreate Opt 8.03 and 8.03 (Note); and to create Opt 8.01 (4), Opt 8.02 (1c), (1g), (1n), and (1w), relating to continuing education.
Analysis prepared by the Department of Safety and Professional Services.
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ANALYSIS
Statutes interpreted:
Statutory authority:
Explanation of agency authority:
Section 15.08 (5) (b), Stats., provides examining boards, “shall promulgate rules for its own guidance and for the guidance of the trade or profession to which it pertains…” Section 449.06 (2m), Stats., provides that “the examining board shall promulgate rules requiring a person who is issued a license to practice optometry to complete, during the 2 year period immediate preceding the renewal date specified in s. 440.08 (2) (a), not less than 30 hours of continuing education. The rules shall include requirements that apply only to optometrists who are allowed to use topical ocular diagnostic pharmaceutical agents under s. 449.17 or who are allowed to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents or remove foreign bodies from an eye or from an appendage to the eye under s. 449.18.” Related statute or rule:
None.
Plain language analysis:
Section 1 adds a definition of “hour” to clarify how to calculate continuing education events for the purposes of this chapter.
Section 2 modifies the designated continuing education topics from 7 hours of glaucoma education to 20 of the 30 hours relating to ocular health, conditions, or disease management. This change expands the subject matter designation.
Section 3 creates five new sections for Opt 8.02. Section Opt 8.02 (1c) provides that at least 20 hours must be completed in person, allowing for an increase to 10 hours which may be completed in alternative methods. Any course which is not in person must be approved by the Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE), Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education, or by the Board. Section Opt 8.02 (1g) allows for additional hours to be completed by methods other than in person for cases of hardship. Section Opt 8.02 (1n) provides a clearer standard of what continuing education is required for a new licensee’s first renewal. Sections Opt 8.02 (1r) and (1w) clarify that licensees who are not authorized to use diagnostic and therapeutic agents may not use continuing education courses on those topics to satisfy their renewal requirements. Section 4 repeals provisions relating to topics which have been clarified by new provisions in Section 3. Sections Opt 8.02 (2) and (3) have been clarified by the new sections Opt 8.02 (1r) and (1w). The revision in Section 2 eliminates the need for Section Opt 8.02 (4). Section Opt 8.02 (1n) simplifies the repealed Section Opt 8.02 (8), which required licensees who are licensed in the middle of a biennium to prorate their continuing education. Lastly, Sections Opt 8.02 (9) and (10), related to alternative delivery methods, are repealed as the topic is now addressed in Section Opt 8.02 (1c). Section 5 lists the organizations which provide approved continuing education. If a continuing education course is provided by an organization not on the approved list then the organization can apply for approval by supplying the listed information. The provider also agrees to provide a certificate of attendance to each participant. A Note is included with information on how to obtain the form referenced in Opt 8.03 (2).
Section 6 states that this rule change will take effect at the start of the next biennium.
Summary of, and comparison with, existing or proposed federal regulation:
None.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states:
