Kansas senators hear testimony on House Bill 2223 to expand optometrists' scope of practice

The Kansas Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee heard more than two hours of testimony on House Bill 2223, which would update the statutory scope of optometry to specify procedures optometrists may perform and to authorize the Board of Optometry to credential licensees for additional procedures.

Proponents said the bill would align state law with current optometric training and improve access to care in areas with few ophthalmologists. Todd Fleischer, executive director of the Kansas Optometric Association, said the change responds to technological and educational changes over the past decades and to students who decide not to return to Kansas because they cannot practice to the extent of their training. "Our optometrists are telling us that they're frustrated that they're not able to take care of patients the way that they're trained, educated and certified to be able to do," Fleischer said.

Dr. Shane Kanar, an optometrist practicing in southeast Kansas, told the committee optometrists already provide both refractive and medical eye care in many communities and handle postoperative and emergency care. "There is no procedure and no provider that has a 0 complication rate," Kanar said, describing collaborative relationships with ophthalmologists and the referral processes his practice uses when cases require surgical intervention.

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