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Eye care profession receives new SOC occupational listing in the United States
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ST. PAUL, Minn. — The ophthalmic allied health profession has received official notification of approval from the United States Bureau of Labor's 2010 Standard Occupational Classification Committee to make use of a new occupational listing, called ophthalmic medical technician, according to a press release from the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology.
The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, which undergoes extensive reviews every 10 years, is used by federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories to better collect, calculate and distribute data. To secure SOC system acceptance and classification, an occupation must require a distinctive set of identifiable skills involving the complexity and range of tasks and duties, including knowledge and experience. In addition, the occupation must meet occupational standards for the type and nature of the work activities, according to the release.
Under the 2000 SOC listing, ophthalmic assisting was classified under other health care support occupations — or medical assistants. However, under this new classification, ophthalmic medical technicians will be grouped under the major category of health technologists and technicians and the subgroup of health practitioner support technicians and technologists. The former "other" grouping excluded important tasks and responsibilities served by ophthalmic medical technicians that require more complex, clinical and medically detailed skills and knowledge than those of the general medical assistant, the release said.
Although the new occupational listing is identified as ophthalmic medical technician, the SOC listing covers all three levels of Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO) certification: certified ophthalmic assistant, certified ophthalmic technician and certified ophthalmic medical technologist.
"This is a historic milestone for the ophthalmic allied health profession," William F. Astle, MD, FRCS(C), president of the JCAHPO, said in the release. "Ophthalmic medical technicians are important in the eye care team as ophthalmology becomes more technologically oriented and confronts the challenges of an aging patient population. This is a significant measure of how much this profession has evolved into its own and an empowering validation of this occupation's professional merit."