Vision Screening Events

BOARD POLICY REGARDING SCREENINGS

After reading the Board’s Screening Policy please complete the screening application form and submit it to the Board for review and approval.    

When a screening event takes place in North Carolina and a North Carolina licensed optometrist participates in this event away from their registered office location, the optometrist is not required to obtain a Branch Office License. However, the event must be registered with and approved by the Board and the optometrist cannot receive compensation, financial or otherwise for their participation in the event.

 

The following conditions related to the event must be met:

(For clarity, “participant” is used to describe the person being screened or examined.)

 

Please indicate what type of event this will be. Primarily, will this be a true screening or is this event intended to generate eyeglass/contact lens prescriptions or other treatments? (See definitions below to help in answering this question.)

 

DEFINITIONS:

Screening – a vision or eye health screening is a relatively short examination or set of tests that is intended to identify the presence of a vision or eye health problem(s). A screening of this nature is not intended to diagnose abnormalities of the visual or ocular system but rather to pick up defects or findings outside of an acceptable range and then to refer that individual to an eye care professional for further evaluation. A screening is not tended to identify all abnormalities or conditions that a comprehensive eye examination would identify. It is not intended to generate treatment(s), prescriptions for glasses/contact lenses or pharmaceuticals.

Eye Examination - an eye examination (comprehensive or otherwise) is an evaluation of the visual and ocular system and is performed by an eye care specialist.  It is intended to identify and diagnose abnormalities, defects or diseases of the visual or ocular system. An eye examination can also identify certain related systemic conditions manifesting with visual/ocular signs and/or symptoms. It is common that prescriptions for eyeglasses/contact lenses or treatment with pharmaceuticals or other treatment modalities may be employed from this type of examination.

 


April 3, 2012

August 3, 2017