This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

AOA announces that amendment to limit scope of practice fails

Issue: August 2004

ByNancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

ORLANDO, Fla. – Here at the 107^th annual American Optometric Association Congress Opening Session in June, outgoing AOA President Victor J. Connors, OD, of Middleton, Wis., announced, “I have received word from our Washington, D.C., office that the amendment to limit scope of practice of optometry — an amendment to be attached to the Defense Appropriations Bill — failed.” This announcement led to cheers and a standing ovation by the audience.

The AOA’s Washington office told Primary Care Optometry News that Department of Defense authorization bill SB 2400 passed the previous evening and that the amendment was not offered.

SB 2400 authorized appropriations for FY 2005 for the Dept. of Defense and the Dept. of Energy. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) submitted an amendment, Section 1068, “Limitation as to persons who may perform eye surgery for Department of Veterans Affairs.”

The amendment read: “Eye surgery at a department facility or under contract with the department may be performed only by an individual who is a licensed medical doctor, a licensed doctor of osteopathy or a licensed dentist whose practice is limited to the specialty of oral or maxillofacial surgery.” The subsection defined surgery as altering human tissue, specifying that surgery did not include noninvasive, nonsurgical procedures such as foreign body removal, eyelash epilation, corneal debridement or insertion of punctal plugs.

WHO, WCO: official relations

Also at the opening session, Serge Resnikoff, MD, PhD, director of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness programs, World Health Organization, Geneva, shared the announcement he made the previous day at the World Congress on Optometric Globalization, that the World Council of Optometry was admitted into official relations with the World Health Organization. This announcement also led to a standing ovation.

At a press conference afterward, Dr. Resnikoff said that the collaboration between WCO and WHO will address three areas: human resource development, “making people more aware of the problems,” he said; strategic partnerships with other organizations involved in the prevention of blindness; and data collection. “Without broad partnerships, it’s just not feasible [to address blindness prevention],” Dr. Resnikoff said. “We look forward to the WCO playing a major role, because WCO has its own kind of network. WCO brings a new kind of group to this global initiative.”

WCO President Damien P. Smith, AM, MScOptom, PhD, FAAO, also said at the press conference, “What the World Health Organization has done for us is complete the positioning of optometry in the mainstream of international public health. It means that optometry is now represented on every international public health care forum in eye care that it could possibly be represented in.”

AOA, Vistakon: InfantSee partners

Dr. Connors also announced at the opening session that the AOA has secured a working partner in its InfantSee program: Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. The AOA House of Delegates passed a resolution at last year’s meeting to support InfantSee. Through InfantSee, participating AOA-member optometrists will provide a comprehensive eye assessment for infants 6 to 12 months old at no charge, regardless of ability to pay or insurance coverage, according to an AOA press release.

Incoming AOA President Wesley Pittman, OD, of Mexia, Texas, told the crowd he hoped that by the AOA Congress in 2005 in Dallas, 6,000 optometrists would be enrolled, which is the number of participants needed to officially launch the program.

Plans for optometry summit announced

During the closing of the House of Delegates, new AOA President Dr. Pittman shared plans for a summit by which “all the stakeholders” will assess the future of optometry. “Not since the Georgetown Summit in 1992 to 1994 has optometry looked at long-term planning for the profession,” he said in his inaugural remarks.

Board members C. Thomas Crooks III, OD, of Birmingham, Ala., and Kevin L. Alexander, OD, PhD, of Big Rapids, Mich., will chair a committee to plan “Optometry’s Summit – Tomorrow’s Vision.”

At a press conference the previous day, Dr. Pittman said the summit will look at the educational components of optometry to ensure that optometry students are being prepared educationally for the future. Summit participants will look at new technology, relationships with industry, economics of industry and how it affects the profession, and legal and legislative issues. A master plan will be presented at the AOA Congress next year in Dallas, Dr. Pittman said.

In his presidential address, Dr. Pittman recalled the profession’s legislative battles over the past few months: the failed attack on Oklahoma’s broad scope of practice, the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s ban on optometrists’ attendance at their educational conference and the very recent failure of the amendment to SB 2400 that would have specified the procedures optometrists can and cannot perform in VA settings.

“Our profession has been under attack nonstop,” he said. “While the SB 2400 amendment was not considered, let’s not be naïve about this. The AAO is desperate for a legislative victory. They will pull out all the stops. We must have a strong grass roots effort. When you’re back at home and the call is made, step forward and take action. Our patients’ welfare is above all else.”

Dr. Pittman also said that the three goals of his presidency include building on membership; the “Healthy Eyes Healthy People” initiative, which aligns with the goals of Healthy People 2010; and a commitment to strengthening relationships with affiliates. After a decline over a number of years, in January, the AOA showed true positive growth in membership, he said. “Our challenge for this year will be to continue to strive to meet the common needs and expectations for all our members, which will include expanding the value of our membership,” he said.

Board members installed

At the closing of the House of Delegates, former AOA President John A. McCall Jr., OD, of Crockett, Texas, installed the 2004-2005 AOA Board of Trustees: Dr. Pittman as president; Richard L. Wallingford, OD, Rockwood, Maine, as president-elect; Dr. Crooks as vice president; Dr. Alexander as secretary-treasurer; J. Wayne Buck, OD, Crossett, Ark., as a re-elected trustee; Joe E. Ellis, OD, Benton, Ky., as a re-elected trustee; Dori M. Carlson, OD, Park River, N.D., as a new trustee; Randolph E. Brooks, OD, Ledgewood, N.J., as trustee; Peter H. Kehoe, OD, Galesburg, Ill., as trustee; Carol D. Record, OD, Charlottesville, Va., as trustee; and Dr. Connors as immediate past president.

AOA awards bestowed

During the opening session, Dr. Connors announced the 2004 award recipients. The Apollo Award went to Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.). According to the AOA awards presentation brochure, Ms. Mikulski was instrumental in securing a change to Medicare law in 1986 that allowed Medicare to cover vision care services performed by optometrists.

John D. Coble, OD, who practices in Greenville, Texas, received the AOA’s Optometrist of the Year award. Sandra L. Bury, OD, of Oak Lawn, Ill., received the Young Optometrist of the Year award. Cathy Trejo, CPOT, of Monument, Colo., was awarded as Paraoptometric of the Year.