Title 34 — Title 34

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the respective meanings ascribed by this section: (1) BOARD. The Alabama Board of Optometry. (2) HUMAN EYE AND ITS ADJACENT STRUCTURES. The eye and all structures situated within the orbit, including the conjunctiva…

The purpose of this article is to provide for the identification and treatment of optometrists licensed under Alabama law who suffer from impairment in order to promote the public health and safety and to ensure the continued availability of the skills of highly trained optometri…

For purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) BOARD. The Alabama Board of Optometry. (2) IMPAIRED or IMPAIRMENT. The inability of an optometrist to practice optometry with reasonable skill and safety to patients by reason of illness, ine…

To carry out the purposes of this article, the board may: (1) Contract with any nonprofit corporation, health provider, or professional association for the purpose of creating, supporting, and maintaining a treatment program. (2) Receive and evaluate reports of suspected impairme…

Participation. The board shall develop procedures for the following: (1) Informing each participant in a treatment program of the program procedures, responsibilities of program participants, and the possible consequences of noncompliance with the program. (2) Voluntary self-repo…

(a) If the board has reason to believe that an optometrist is impaired, the board may cause an evaluation of the optometrist to be conducted for the purpose of determining if there is an impairment, and may suspend or restrict the license of any optometrist who declines to submit…

(a) An impaired optometrist may request in writing to the board the imposition of a restriction of his or her license to practice. (b) The board may grant such request for restriction and may attach conditions to the licensure of the optometrist to practice optometry within speci…

(a)(1) Notwithstanding any provision of law, records of the board pertaining to an impaired optometrist shall be confidential and shall not be subject to discovery or subpoena. (2) No person in attendance at any board meeting concerning an impaired optometrist shall subsequently …

Prohibited. An impaired optometrist who is participating in or has successfully completed a treatment program pursuant to this article shall not be limited or restricted in his or her professional practice or excluded from any hospital staff solely because of treatment program pa…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board, board members, board committees, board committee members, and employees and agents of the board shall not be held liable in damages to any person in connection with acts or omissions within the scope of their responsibili…

Any optometrist who is identified as being impaired or voluntarily reports his or her impairment shall be responsible for the following: (1) Paying fines for violations of law, rules, or regulations as determined by the board. (2) Paying expenses incurred from determining impairm…

The board may adopt and promulgate rules to effect the purposes of this article with such rules to be promulgated and enforced pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. History: (Act 2006-411, p. 1021, §11.)

The practice of optometry is hereby declared to affect the public health, safety, and welfare, and optometry is subject to regulation and control in the public interest. It is further declared to be a matter of public interest and concern that the practice of optometry, as define…

Licenses; Use of Pharmaceutical Agents. (a) Every person desiring to practice optometry in this state shall be 19 years of age, or over, a citizen of the United States or, if not a citizen of the United States, a person who is legally present in the United States with appropriate…

Any person who has successfully passed a standard examination in optometry in any state of the United States or all parts of the examination given by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry and is the holder of a certificate to that effect, issued by the board of that state,…

Renewal; Waiver of Registration and Fees; Rulemaking Authority. (a) All registered optometrists licensed in this state are required to take annual courses of study in subjects relating to the practice of optometry. The length of study shall be prescribed by the board but shall no…

Any of the following shall constitute grounds for revocation of license or suspension of license for a definite period of time, for a private or public reprimand, for probation, for the levying and collection of an administrative fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) p…

All fees received by the board for examinations, annual renewal registrations, or from any other source shall be utilized in regulating the practice of optometry and paying the expenses of the board, including necessary clerk hire, legal expenses, and per diem and expenses of the…

It is intended that this chapter shall furnish a complete and exclusive system, of and in itself, for obtaining the right to practice optometry in the State of Alabama and for the regulation of the practice of optometry therein; provided, that it is the intent of the Legislature …

(a) It is not the intent of this chapter to prevent any school teacher, welfare worker, state, county, municipality, or other public board, body, agency, institution, or official from determining in the course of their official duties the probable need of visual services; provide…

(a)(1) In order to accomplish the purposes and to provide for the enforcement of this chapter, there is created the Alabama Board of Optometry. The board may implement and enforce this chapter. On October 10, 1975, the State Board of Optometry as then constituted shall be abolish…

Report. (a) The board shall choose annually one of its members as president, one as vice president, and one as secretary-treasurer, who each may administer oaths and take affidavits, certifying thereto under their hand and the common seal of the board. (b) The board shall meet at…

The board shall exercise and perform, subject to this chapter, each of the following powers and duties: (1) Conduct examinations at least once each year to ascertain the qualifications and fitness of applicants for licenses to practice optometry. (2) Prescribe rules and regulatio…

(a) The secretary of the board shall keep a registry in which shall be entered the names of all persons to whom temporary licenses, limited licenses, license certificates, approvals for the use of pharmaceutical agents, and annual registration certificates have been granted under…

(a) The board, by rule, may issue a limited teaching license to teachers who hold an optometric degree and are not licensed and registered to practice optometry in this state. The board may also issue a limited resident license to student residents at a school of optometry approv…

Fees; Venue. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to perform any of the following: (1) Practice optometry in this state without having a valid, unrevoked, and unexpired license certificate and annual renewal registration certificate as an optometrist. (2) Use or attempt to use…

(a)(1) There is established the Board of Optometric Scholarship and Loan Awards which shall establish and award scholarships for academic excellence to provide for and further optometric training in pursuance of an optometric degree and establish and award loans to incentivize st…

(a) The Board of Optometric Scholarship and Loan Awards may make reasonable rules, not inconsistent with the laws of this state, necessary for the regulation of its proceedings and for the discharge of the duties imposed upon the board. (b) The board shall receive and review all …

The Board of Optometric Scholarship and Loan Awards shall establish the following types of scholarships and loans: (1) Annual loans, not exceeding 25 percent of the number of students enrolled in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, based on the economic n…

(a) Annual loans extended under subdivision (1) of Section 34-22-62 shall be repaid following graduation, either in cash as is provided in subdivision (1) or under terms of a contract to serve in an area of need in Alabama for a term to be specified by the board as provided in su…

Legal Proceedings. (a) Each recipient of a loan under the provisions of this article shall enter into a contract with the Board of Optometric Scholarship and Loan Awards where the recipient agrees to repay the loan in a manner prescribed by the board not inconsistent with any pro…

(a) Any incorporated or unincorporated municipality or locality in the state having a population of less than 100,000 desiring additional optometrists and wishing to be designated as a locality needing additional optometrists, may apply to the Board of Optometric Scholarship and …

The board may enjoin violations of any provision of this chapter by proceeding in accordance with the provisions of Section 6-6-502. History: (Acts 1975, No. 1148, p. 2257, §15.)

Etc., from Suit. (a) Any person, including a licensed optometrist, may initiate a charge of violation of this chapter or a charge of misconduct by a licensed optometrist by filing with the secretary of the board a written statement under oath of the charge against the accused. If…

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that technological advances are occurring in the practice of optometry, thereby changing the practice of optometry, and that those technological advances are in the public interest. The Legislature further finds and declares that the prac…

For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) BOARD. The Alabama Board of Optometry created pursuant to Section 34-22- 40. (2) DISTANT SITE PROVIDER. The provider providing the telemedicine service from a site other than the patient’…

(a) A provider who uses telemedicine in his or her practice shall adopt protocols to prevent fraud and abuse through the use of telemedicine. (b)(1) Privacy practices. a. A provider that communicates with patients by electronic communications other than telephone or facsimile sha…

Practice; Confidentiality. (a) Telemedicine services provided at an established treatment site may be used for all patient visits, including initial evaluations to establish a proper doctor-patient relationship between a provider and a patient. (1) A provider shall be reasonably …

(a) Patient records shall be maintained for all telemedicine services. The provider or distant site provider shall maintain the records created at any site where treatment or evaluation is provided. (b) Distant site providers shall obtain an adequate and complete medical history …

(a) A licensed optometrist, who is not licensed in Alabama pursuant to Section 34- 22-20 or Section 34-22-21, who utilizes telemedicine across state lines in an emergency, as defined by the board, is not subject to the requirements of this article. (b) A provider that is contacte…

Any person who violates this article is subject to criminal prosecution for the unlicensed practice of optometry under Section 34-22-6, or other action authorized in this state to prohibit or penalize continued practice without a license under Section 34-22-8. History: (Act 98-49…

The Alabama Board of Optometry is vested with authority to adopt and promulgate rules to effect the purposes of this article. History: (Act 98-495, p. 956, §8; Act 2014-339, p. 1257, §1.)

Repealed by Act 2014-339, §3, effective July 1, 2014. History: (Act 98-495, p. 956, §9.)