Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 235 CMR - BOARD OF REGISTRATION OF DISPENSING OPTICIANS › Title 235 CMR 2.00 - Definitions, Board Procedures and Requirements for Full Licensure › Section 2.04 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
As used in 235 CMR, the following terms shall have the
				following meanings, unless the context in which they are used clearly requires
				otherwise:
American Board of Opticianry or ABO
.
				The American Board of Opticianry.
Apprentice Optician
. An individual
				who is registered with the Board and the Division of Apprentice Standards as an
				apprentice optician pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112, § 73K and
				235 CMR
				4.03:
Application for Registration as
				an Apprentice Optician
, is obtaining the experience and training in
				opticianry required in order to qualify for a license as a dispensing optician
				pursuant to
				235 CMR
				2.07 or
				2.08,
				and performs or provides opticianry functions or services under the supervision
				of an individual who meets the requirements of
				235 CMR
				4.07:
Employment and Supervision of
				Apprentice Opticians
and in accordance with the applicable
				requirements of
				235 CMR 4.00:
Apprenticeship Requirements and Procedures
.
Board
. The Massachusetts Board of
				Registration of Dispensing Opticians, established pursuant to M.G.L. c. 13,
				§ 48.
Business Organization or Entity
. Any
				sole proprietorship; any partnership; any domestic or foreign business
				corporation; any domestic or foreign professional corporation; any limited
				liability company or foreign limited liability company as defined in M.G.L. c.
				156C, § 2; any registered limited liability partnership or foreign
				registered limited liability partnership as defined in M.G.L. c. 108A, §
				2; any association; or any other business organization or entity, however named
				and whether or not it is conducted for profit.
Commission on Opticianry
				Accreditation
or
COA
. The Commission on
				Opticianry Accreditation, which grants accreditation to college or
				university-based educational programs in opticianry.
Contact Hour
. A unit of not less than
				50 consecutive minutes of organized learning experience in an approved
				continuing education course, program, seminar, workshop or other approved
				continuing education activity.
Contact Lens Prescription
. A written
				order bearing the original handwritten or electronic signature of a duly
				licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist, or an oral order issued directly by a
				duly licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist, which authorizes the provision of
				specified rigid or soft contact lenses to a patient.
Contact Lens Registry Examination
.
				The Contact Lens Registry Examination developed and administered by the
				National Contact Lens Examiners and/or its agents.
Continuing Education Activities
. Any
				course, program, seminar, workshop or other educational activity which provides
				information or knowledge which contributes directly to the professional
				competence of dispensing opticians and which meets the requirements of
				235 CMR
				3.04:
Verification of Continuing
				Education Activities
.
Dispensing Optician
. An individual
				who prepares and dispenses lenses, spectacles, eyeglasses, contact lenses
				and/or appliances thereto to the intended wearer or user thereof pursuant to
				written contact lens or eyeglass prescriptions from a duly licensed physician
				or duly registered optometrist, and who, in accordance with such prescriptions,
				interprets, measures, adapts, fits and adjusts such lenses, spectacles,
				eyeglasses, contact lenses, or appliances to the human eyes and/or face for the
				purpose of aiding or correcting visual or ocular anomalies of the human
				eyes.
Division of Apprentice Standards
. The
				Division of Apprentice Standards within the Massachusetts Department of Labor
				and Workforce Development, established pursuant to M.G.L. c. 23, §§
				11E through 11L.
Employer
. A licensed dispensing
				optician, an optometrist duly registered to practice optometry in
				Massachusetts, or a duly licensed physician registered to practice medicine in
				Massachusetts who employs and supervises an apprentice optician while that
				apprentice optician obtains the experience and training in opticianry required
				in order to qualify for a license as a dispensing optician pursuant to
				235 CMR
				2.07 or
				2.08.
Eyeglass Prescription
. A written
				order bearing the original handwritten or electronic signature of a duly
				licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist, or an oral order issued directly by a
				duly-licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist, authorizing the provision of
				specified ophthalmic lenses or spectacle eyeglasses to a patient.
License
. A license certificate,
				issued by the Board pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112, § 73E and
				235 CMR
				2.07 or
				2.08
				which authorizes a named individual to lawfully engage in the practice of
				opticianry in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Licensed Dispensing Optician
. A
				dispensing optician who meets the qualifications set forth in M.G.L. c. 112,
				§ 73E and
				235 CMR
				2.07 or
				2.08
				and who is licensed by the Board to engage in the practice of opticianry in
				accordance with 235 CMR.
National Contact Lens Examiners or
				NCLE
. The National Contact Lens Examiners.
National Opticianry Competency
				Examination
. The National Opticianry Competency Examination
				developed and administered by the American Board of Opticianry and/or its
				agents.
Optical Goods Establishment
. Any
				business organization or entity, however named and whether or not it is
				conducted for profit, which engages in selling, furnishing or otherwise
				providing ophthalmic lenses, eyeglasses, spectacles, or contact lenses to
				members of the general public.
Optometrist
. An individual who is
				duly licensed to practice optometry in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by the
				Massachusetts Board of Registration in Optometry pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112,
				§§ 66 through 73B and 246 CMR; or an individual who is duly licensed
				or registered to practice optometry pursuant to the laws of another state,
				territory or political subdivision of the United States (including but not
				limited to the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico).
Physician
. An individual who is duly
				licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by the
				Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112,
				§ 2 and 243 CMR; or an individual who is duly licensed or registered to
				practice medicine pursuant to the laws of another state, territory or political
				subdivision of the United States (including but not limited to the District of
				Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico).
Practice of Opticianry
. Includes, but
				shall not necessarily be limited to, the performance of the following functions
				and/or services:
(a) Preparing ophthalmic lenses, contact lenses, spectacles,
				eyeglasses and/or associated appliances pursuant to, and in accordance with,
				the terms of a contact lens prescription or eyeglass prescription issued by a
				duly registered optometrist or duly licensed ophthalmologist;
(b) Verifying that ophthalmic lenses, contact lenses,
				spectacles, eyeglasses and/or associated appliances conform to the terms of the
				applicable contact lens prescription or eyeglass prescription issued by a duly
				registered optometrist or duly licensed ophthalmologist;
(c) Dispensing ophthalmic lenses, contact lenses, spectacles,
				eyeglasses and/or associated appliances to the intended wearer or user thereof,
				except as set forth in
				235
				CMR 5.06:
Restrictions on Practice of
				Opticianry by Business Organizations or Entities
;
(d) Interpreting or measuring ophthalmic lenses, contact
				lenses, spectacles, eyeglasses and/or associated appliances for the purpose of
				aiding or correcting visual or ocular anomalies of the eyes of the intended
				wearer or user of such lenses, spectacles, eyeglasses or appliances; and
(e) Adapting, fitting or adjusting ophthalmic lenses, contact
				lenses, spectacles, eyeglasses and/or associated appliances to the human face
				and/or eyes of the intended wearer or user for the purpose of aiding or
				correcting visual or ocular anomalies.
Registered Pharmacy
. Any business
				organization or entity which is registered, licensed or otherwise authorized to
				operate as a pharmacy, wholesale druggist or drug business in the Commonwealth
				of Massachusetts by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy
				pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112, §§ 24 through 42A and 247
				CMR.