SB 1570 Summary

• Changes the state board of optometry from six members (four optometrists, one physician, one lay person) to seven members (five optometrists and two public members with no interest in optometry, opticianry, or medicine).

• Modifies licensure requirements by reducing the minimum equivalent coursework hours for foreign-educated applicants from 120 hours to 80 hours and allows military service to count toward the two-year practice requirement for licensure by endorsement.

• Expands nonresident dispenser regulations to include prescription eyeglasses in addition to replacement soft contact lenses, and redesignates article 5 of chapter 16 accordingly.

• Updates optometric practice definitions to include computer programs, orthoptics, pleoptics, vision therapy, neurorehabilitation, and CLIA-waived clinical tests; prohibits transferring patient care to unlicensed persons.

• Makes technical corrections to language regarding nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, pharmaceutical prescriptions, and various procedural updates to modernize statute language.