2006 Kansas Code - 65-1501a

      65-1501a.   Definitions. For the purposes of this act the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them unless the context requires otherwise:

      (a)   "Board" means the board of examiners in optometry established under K.S.A. 74-1501 and amendments thereto.

      (b)   "License" means a license to practice optometry granted under the optometry law.

      (c)   "Licensee" means a person licensed under the optometry law to practice optometry.

      (d)   "Adapt" means the determination, selection, fitting or use of lenses, prisms, orthoptic exercises or visual training therapy for the aid of any insufficiencies or abnormal conditions of the eyes after or by examination or testing.

      (e)   "Lenses" means any type of ophthalmic lenses, which are lenses prescribed or used for the aid of any insufficiencies or abnormal conditions of the eyes.

      (f)   "Prescription" means a verbal or written order directly from a licensee giving or containing the name and address of the prescriber, the license registration number of the licensee, the name and address of the patient, the specifications and directions for lenses, prisms, orthoptic exercises, low vision rehabilitation services or visual training therapy to be used for the aid of any insufficiencies or abnormal conditions of the eyes, including instructions necessary for the fabrication or use thereof and the date of issue.

      (g)   "Prescription for topical pharmaceutical drugs or oral drugs" means a verbal or written order directly from a licensee expressly certified to prescribe drugs under the optometry law and giving or containing the name and address of the prescriber, the license registration number of the licensee, the name and address of the patient, the name and quantity of the drug prescribed, directions for use, the number of refills permitted, the date of issue and expiration date.

      (h)   "Topical pharmaceutical drugs" means drugs administered topically and not by other means for the examination, diagnosis and treatment of the human eye and its adnexae.

      (i)   "Dispense" means to deliver prescription-only medication or ophthalmic lenses to the ultimate user pursuant to the lawful prescription of a licensee and dispensing of prescription-only medication by a licensee shall be limited to a twenty-four-hour supply or minimal quantity necessary until a prescription can be filled by a licensed pharmacist.

      (j)   "Diagnostic licensee" means a person licensed under the optometry law and certified by the board to administer or dispense topical pharmaceutical drugs for diagnostic purposes.

      (k)   "Therapeutic licensee" means a person licensed under the optometry law and certified by the board to prescribe, administer or dispense topical pharmaceutical drugs for therapeutic purposes and oral drugs, following completion of a fifteen-hour course approved by the board pertaining to the use of oral drugs in ocular therapeutics, except that a person applying for therapeutic licensure who has graduated after January 1, 1999, from a school or college of optometry approved by the board shall not be required to take such course. Therapeutic licensees on the effective date of this act shall complete the fifteen-hour course described in this subsection before May 31, 2000.

      (l)   "Glaucoma licensee" means a person described in subsections (j) and (k) of this section who is also licensed under the optometry law to manage and treat adult open-angle glaucoma by nonsurgical means, including the prescribing, administering and dispensing of topical pharmaceutical drugs and oral drugs.

      (m)   "False advertisement" means any advertisement which is false, misleading or deceptive in a material respect. In determining whether any advertisement is misleading, there shall be taken into account not only representations made or suggested by statement, word, design, device, sound or any combination thereof, but also the extent to which the advertisement fails to reveal facts material in the light of such representations made.

      (n)   "Advertisement" means all representations disseminated in any manner or by any means, for the purpose of inducing, or which are likely to induce, directly or indirectly, the purchase of professional services or ophthalmic goods.

      (o)   "Health care provider" shall have the meaning ascribed to that term in subsection (f) of K.S.A. 40-3401 and amendments thereto.

      (p)   "Medical facility" shall have the meaning ascribed to that term in subsection (c) of K.S.A. 65-411 and amendments thereto.

      (q)   "Medical care facility" shall have the meaning ascribed to that term in K.S.A. 65-425 and amendments thereto.

      (r)   "Co-management" means confirmation by an ophthalmologist of a licensee's diagnosis of adult open-angle glaucoma together with a written treatment plan which includes (1) all tests and examinations supporting the diagnosis, (2) a schedule of tests and examinations necessary to treat the patient's condition, (3) a medication plan, (4) a target intraocular pressure, (5) periodic review of the patient's progress and (6) criteria for referral of the patient to an ophthalmologist for additional treatment or surgical intervention, except that any co-management plan may be modified only with the consent of both the ophthalmologist and the optometrist and the modification noted in writing on the patient's record.

      (s)   "Co-management period" means that period of time during which an optometrist co-manages patients either suspected of having or diagnosed as having adult open-angle glaucoma with an ophthalmologist.

      (t)   "Ophthalmologist" means a person licensed to practice medicine and surgery by the state board of healing arts who specializes in the diagnosis and medical and surgical treatment of diseases and defects of the human eye and related structures.

      (u)   "Low vision rehabilitation services" means the evaluation, diagnosis, management and care of the low vision patient including low vision rehabilitation therapy, education and interdisciplinary consultation under the direction and supervision of an ophthalmologist or optometrist.

      (v)   "Oral drugs" means oral antibacterial drugs, oral antiviral drugs, oral antihistamines, oral analgesic drugs, oral steroids, oral antiglaucoma drugs and other oral drugs with clinically accepted ocular uses.

      History:   L. 1975, ch. 318, § 1; L. 1987, ch. 235, § 2; L. 1990, ch. 223, § 1; L. 1996, ch. 95, § 2; L. 1999, ch. 23, § 2; L. 2005, ch. 93, § 3; July 1.