April L. Jasper

President, Florida Optometric Association

Turn on the news right now and you will become immersed in an ocean of reports and comments focused on the accessibility of health care.

From the Affordable Care Act on the national stage to accessibility and safety for patients across all lines of insurance coverage in Florida, health care is a hot topic.

Inevitably, within this discussion often comes the debate over scope of practice and who should be practicing what, when and on whom.

This state legislative session, an argument is being made to allow Florida optometrists to provide expanded services to their patients, the same types of services that physician assistants who work for ophthalmologists are currently providing.

Today, although optometrists are more than qualified to perform in-office eye procedures such as minor external procedures and glaucoma treatments, Florida law restricts and in some cases prohibits them from providing such care.

Couple this with the fact that not every ophthalmologist in Florida is willing to see a patient on Medicaid or an HMO and you have created a perfect storm in terms of access to eye health care.

Those opposed to this change will say this measure should not pass because of the risk it poses to patient eye health safety. They will boast that only ophthalmologists should be allowed to do these procedures, citing their medical school training, residency and other specialized forms of education as the reason.

But their argument is hypocritical, as certain ophthalmologists in Florida currently allow their physician assistants to do these same procedures and treatments, without a formal medical school background and considerably less education than optometrists.

Now, to be clear, this is not an indictment of physician assistants or our fellow eye doctors -- ophthalmologists. In fact, Florida optometrists do not want to change the way these physician assistants work independently in ophthalmologists’ offices.

However, what is good for all is to allow optometrists to offer their patients access to the same minor procedures and treatments that PAs perform -- leading us all to better availability to eye health care.

As for true patient safety, the proposed legislation mandates that any optometrist wishing to provide these procedures, and specialize in this area, would have to take an added step to do so by taking a certification course and passing a competency exam. This measure provides accountability and promotes increased patient access to high-quality eye health care.

In the end, some will view this as an industry food fight and a way for ophthalmologists to preserve their business model and continue to be able to bill and be paid for medical procedures performed by their PAs.

But for my fellow optometrists, this is about being able to help our patients when they need it -- regardless of insurance coverage.

Support the Florida legislative initiative to make a simple change to the current law and allow optometrists to perform minor procedures and treatments in their offices to expand access to quality eye care for patients across the state.

Let’s change the narrative on these issues and stop looking at it as a “scope of practice” debate. Instead, focus on it as “expanded patient access proposals” -- centered on safe, quality eye health care for all Floridians -- and not just another industry food fight.

Jasper, O.D., F.A.A.O., is president of the Florida Optometric Association.

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