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N.J. bill would delegate practice scope rulings to State Board of Optometry
TRENTON, N.J. — Legislation recently introduced in both the senate and the assembly here would enable the State Board of Optometry to have discretion over practice scope expansion for New Jersey optometrists.
S-1695, which was introduced in June, would allow optometrists to appeal directly to the State Board of Optometry when seeking approval to perform new treatments or procedures. The bill is identical to the assembly version, A-2227, which was introduced in early May.
“This would change the way optometrists seek to add new techniques or procedures to their scope of practice,” said Bryan Markowitz, executive director of the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians (NJSOP). “It basically gives the power to the State Board of Optometry.”
Keeping up with new techniques
Currently, optometrists in New Jersey are required to go through the state legislature to expand their privileges. “We are really one of the only medical professions where, every time a new technology comes into play, we have to go before the legislature,” Mr. Markowitz said. “We have to fight it out there, and, at times, the technology is outdated by the time the legal battle has been fought.”
Under S-1695, the State Board of Optometry would instead weigh these requests. “The state board would consider a certain practice or technique and might require that optometrists go back for more schooling to perform those techniques,” Mr. Markowitz said. “Or the board might determine that a certain procedure or technique should not apply to optometrists.”
Mr. Markowitz said the bill would pertain to expanded medical formularies, including oral and injectable medications.
“We didn’t really delineate what the bill is limited to,” Mr. Markowitz said. “It would basically be unlimited, but it would be left to the state board to make that decision.”
Opposition to the bills
Now that the Senate and Assembly bills have both been introduced, they have been referred to their respective health committees, Mr. Markowitz said. Like many similar bills across the country, S-1695 and A-2227 have encountered opposition from ophthalmology, he said. “We have been hearing rumblings that there is opposition from ophthalmology,” Mr. Markowitz said. “They have been organizing and trying to mount opposition to this legislation.”
Because the New Jersey legislature does not meet during the summer, Mr. Markowitz said, there will be no further movement on the bills until this month at the earliest.
“We really are hopeful that they will move,” he said, “and we hope to see some action sooner rather than later.”
Mr. Markowitz said the proposed legislation would put optometry on equal footing with other medical practitioners. “If you look at dentists and podiatrists, for example, when they have a new technology that is introduced, they go to their respective boards and find out what schooling they need,” he said. “These bills just put optometry in step with other professions.”
For Your Information:
- Bryan Markowitz is the executive director of the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians. He can be reached at 20 Texas Ave., Lawrenceville, NJ 08648; (609) 671-0900; fax: (609) 671-1820.