STATE OF WISCONSIN
OPTOMETRY EXAMINING BOARD
IN THE MATTER OF RULEMAKING : PROPOSED ORDER OF THE
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE : OPTOMETRY EXAMINING BOARD
OPTOMETRY EXAMINING BOARD : ADOPTING RULES
: (CLEARINGHOUSE RULE )
PROPOSED ORDER
An order of the Optometry Examining Board to amend Opt 8.02 (3e), Opt 8.02 (3m) (a),
Opt 8.02 (3s), Opt 8.03 (1) (a), Opt 8.03 (2) (h), and Opt 8.03 (4); and to create Opt 8.01 (1m) and Opt 8.01 (5), relating to continuing education. Analysis prepared by the Department of Safety and Professional Services.
ANALYSIS
Explanation of agency authority:
Section 15.08 (5) (b), Stats. provides that each examining board “[s]hall promulgate rules for its own guidance and for the guidance of the trade or profession to which it pertains, and define and enforce professional conduct and unethical practices not inconsistent with the law relating to the particular trade or profession.” Section 227.11 (2) (a), Stats. provides that “Each agency may promulgate rules interpreting the provisions of any statute enforced or administered by the agency, if the agency considers it necessary to effectuate the purpose of the statute, but a rule is not valid if the rule exceeds the bounds of correct interpretation.” Section 449.06 (2m), Stats. provides that “The examining board shall promulgate rules requiring a person who is issued a license to practice optometry to complete, during the 2-year period immediately preceding the renewal date specified in s. 440.08 (2) (a), not less than 30 hours of continuing education. The rules shall include requirements that apply only to optometrists who are allowed to use topical ocular diagnostic pharmaceutical agents under s. 449.17 or who are allowed to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents or remove foreign bodies from an eye or from an appendage to the eye under s. 449.18.” Related statute or rule:
None.
Plain language analysis:
The proposed rule clarifies the number of continuing education hours and instructional format required to renew an optometry license according to the updated standards adopted by the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry (ARBO) and the Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE). The rule sets hour requirements for in person, synchronous virtual, and asynchronous continuing education hours required to renew an optometry license. COPE has updated definitions of synchronous and asynchronous course formats and hours to align with modern education terminology and provided new definitions to guide state regulatory boards.
Summary of, and comparison with, existing or proposed federal regulation:
N/A
Summary of public comments received on statement of scope and a description of how and to what extent those comments and feedback were taken into account in drafting the proposed rule:
N/A
Comparison with rules in adjacent states:
Illinois:
Rules of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation establish continuing education (CE) requirements for optometrists licensed in Illinois [68 Ill. Adm. Code 1320.80]. Illinois has recently updated their code to allow different course formats. Out of a total of 30 required CE hours per renewal cycle, at least 12 hours must be in person and up to 18 hours may be “completed online through live, real-time presentations or by pre-recorded video”. In other words, these are essentially the in person, synchronous virtual, and asynchronous course formats defined by COPE.
Iowa:
Rules of the Iowa Board of Optometry establish continuing education requirements for optometrists licensed in Iowa [645 IAC 181.1 – 181.3]. Iowa has not yet included the new COPE course format definitions within these rules. However, it only allows a maximum of 10 CE hours per renewal cycle to be virtual for both of their credential levels (30 hours total and 50 hours total required).
Michigan:
Rules of the Michigan Board of Optometry establish continuing education requirements for optometrists licensed in Michigan [Mich Admin Code, R 338.331 to R 338.333]. They require a total of 40 CE hours per renewal cycle. The only provision that covers the topic of in person versus virtual CE is the following: “A minimum of 20 of the required continuing education hours must be completed in a live, synchronous learning format. The remaining hours may be completed in any other format” [R 338.331 (4)]. Since it does not specify that courses must be in person, and since “live, synchronous” fits the COPE definition of a synchronous virtual course, it is presumed to mean that at least 20 hours must be either in person courses or synchronous virtual courses. In this case, all of a licensee’s CE hours may be virtual.
Minnesota:
