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Nebraska legislature to vote on bill to expand ODs’ scope of practice
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Nebraska optometrists have brought a proposal before the state legislature asking to be granted authorization to deliver an expanded scope of care.
The new bill would remove the current restrictions on prescribing oral anti-glaucoma medications, oral steroids and oral immunosuppressives, according to Christopher Wolfe, OD, FAAO, the Nebraska Optometric Association’s legislative chairman.
The bill will also authorize optometrists to administer injections into the eyelid and to treat anaphylaxis, along with other minor procedures to treat eyelid cysts or infected or inflamed eyelid glands, Wolfe said in an interview with PRIMARY CARE OPTOMETRY NEWS.
“Four hundred Nebraska optometrists are distributed throughout the state and maintain regular office hours, while about 110 ophthalmologists practice in the state, most of them practicing in the major cities,” Wolfe said. “We are continually under a microscope for all of our care; yet, optometrists have a record of being very cautious and safe practitioners. Every time we seek enhanced authority, we have to prove that our education and training will protect the public; this is no different.”
According to Wolfe, this bill is experiencing opposition from the Nebraska Medical Association and the Nebraska Association of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, who are trying to persuade legislatures to vote against it.
“Across the state, patients present to optometrists’ offices seeking care that we have the knowledge, education and training to deliver, but are not authorized to provide due to the restriction on our scope of practice,” he said. “This scope of practice enhancement is not a quantum leap forward; it simply allows Nebraska ODs to deliver care that our colleagues have been safely and effectively providing in other states for decades.”
The technical review committee will meet in early August to conduct a preliminary vote on the proposal, with a public hearing scheduled to take place in September. The final vote will take place in October.