2012: Reflections on the
Future of Opticians
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Over the last number of months, my articles have been focused on management topics.
I have written about marketing, strategy, and a number of other important topics, but felt that I needed to go off in a new direction this month.
I am a frequent reader, and former active participant in an online forum called
Optiboard (www.optiboard.com), and it prompted me to think about where opticians may be in the future.
It is a marvelous forum filled with very dedicated people from the eye care community who talk about anything under the sun that is related to the optical industry and related professions and sometimes things not related at all. In my reading of these threads, it is clear that the term optician can have a completely different a meaning even within the field. So this month, I felt that we should see if we could get some folks thinking about somehow developing a national definition of what an optician really is and does in their professional life.
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The Changing Face of the Profession
Opticians today have seemingly been relegated to the role of “spectacle peddler” in a retail or chain store environment, far removed from the professional optician of the past that fitted contact lenses, and other devices used in the correction of visual anomalies. The changing landscape of the eye care industry presents a quandary for the optician. Where do they fit into this new environment? Should they expand practice roles through additional education and training, or serve as technicians and assistants working for chains and eye doctor’s offices? What are the personnel needs for the future and how will those needs be met?
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Licensure/Certification Requirements
Twenty-two states require a specific state license to practice opticianry. One other state (Texas) recognizes a national board certification they refer to as voluntary licensure, but it is not required to practice (hats off to those who undertake this professional designation!). The remaining states have little or no restrictions placed on the sale of prescription eyeglasses. In other words, the primary requirement to practice as an optician in those jurisdictions is a pulse!
Pass rates on state and national boards vary according to training and education of the student. Additionally, as the core knowledge and skills required for opticians to pass their licensing board examination increase it may necessitate an increase in the qualifying level of education and/or experience for licensure. Should an increase in educational and experience requirements for opticians be considered unacceptable by the profession, can opticians continue to work under the supervision and direction of an ophthalmologist or an optometrist? Furthermore, if opticians only work under the supervision and direction of other professionals, should additional education be required prior to sitting for state board or national certification examinations, or are those examinations even necessary to serve the public as an optician? Obviously, these questions can only be answered by the opticians involved and other eye care professionals in the states where it is an issue.
Just what is an optician?
There are some differences within the opticianry community as to the definition of “optician” in the United States. Some within the profession view it as a retail business that demands limited education, while others see the role of the optician as becoming far more advanced, with an increase in the scope of practice to include refraction and more involvement in contact lenses and other specialties. Several questions must be answered to gain a clear understanding of what the optician will be doing professionally in the future. These questions also underlie the problems facing opticians today as a profession.
For instance, what level of education and training should be required to safely and effectively utilize new and emerging technology in practice? An acceptable answer to this question has not been adequately resolved by opticians throughout the United States. This is important because some of the new technology available for opticians - and should within their scope of practice such as advanced refraction systems - require additional training to safely operate them. These systems allow the technician in the eye care professional’s office to accurately perform refractions to develop a prescription for spectacles or contact lenses, so should opticians consider using them as well? Some opticians are currently using advanced refraction systems in their practice; however, it is not known how their education and training differs from that of other opticians that are not using these systems.
Another key problem which has not been studied or addressed by opticians is to define the role they will play in the eye care delivery system of the future. Opticians seem to have only two choices – become an assistant or a technician in an ophthalmologist’s or optometrist’s office or expand their current scope of practice, because today the independent is seemingly a dying breed. If we are to regain some independence, we must advance. However, ophthalmologists and optometrists view the optician’s potential advancement as encroaching on their territory. Optometry regularly fights the ability of opticians in legislative arenas across the country. Opticians of today are seemingly at a crossroads. They will either advance into new areas of activity or be reduced to a paraprofessional under the supervision of an ophthalmologist or an optometrist.
Regulatory problems also impact the optician. The issue which has a significant effect on the profession is the question of licensure. States have the power to regulate and impose licensure for opticians under the state’s police power. The state’s power to regulate opticians is an attribute of a sovereign government. In the United States’ Constitution, sovereignty is found in state governments. However, licensing of opticians can only be justified to protect the public’s health. This is an important concept to understand because the issue of licensure is resolved by state government and not the opticians themselves.
The issue of licensure is further complicated by the fact that some members of the profession, particularly those from unlicensed states, as well as other eye care professionals do not see the need for licensure or certification of opticians. So with all this confusion, where do we go from here?
Redefining the Profession
To adequately understand the role that opticians may fill in the future, a clear picture of the profession as it currently exists must be presented. The profession is currently ill defined due to the varied role optician’s play in different regions of the country. In many states, opticians are licensed health care providers with the right to fit contact lenses and other visual appliances. Those states require an examination, state licensure and varied levels of education and training. On the other hand, many states require no training at all. For example, Nebraska has no licensing requirements, but the author’s home state of North Carolina has an extensive 2-day examination. This disparity causes obvious problems in defining a future role, but the emergence of new technology could provide a measurement for what the profession feels will be the level of education and training needed to safely and efficiently practice in the future. This new technology may expand the need for better-trained practitioners or eliminate the need for them completely. The technology may be good enough that technicians trained at a very basic level could do the tasks that opticians do today.
Conclusion
As opticians, we all must look to the future. If we are nearing the end of our careers, we want to leave the field better than when we came. If we are just starting, we certainly want to maximize our potential. We need to be cognizant of who is leading our professional organizations, and take an active role in seeing that we select strategic-minded leaders that can make a positive difference. We must assure that the future will be bright, and it is up to us.
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