Issues and News from your Association
By Mary Field
Of Special Note
An issue concerning the community of francophone opticians, and by extension
all Canadian opticians, has come to our attention. In early April the
Superior Court of Québec issued a judgment that has instructed
the respondent, l’Ordre des opticiens d’ordonnances du Québec,
to rescind a Standard of Practice document (referred to in the judgment
as the Guide) that it published and distributed to its members. This
document lays out the recommended practices for dispensing contact lenses.
The present Guide is designed to outline the conditions under which
professional services for contact lenses should be performed by members
of l’Ordre des opticiens d’ordonnances du Québec.
It applies to the site of the service, to the equipment utilized and
to the profession’s activities required in the professional practice
of fitting contact lenses. Those activities include observing under
magnification the sclera and surface blood vessels, the limbus and neighbouring
blood vessels, the eyelids and conjunctiva, the corneal integrity and
the epithelium and tear flow.
The petitioner in this case is the Québec optometric association
and, acting as intervener, l’Ordre des optométristes du
Québec. In the reasons for judgment, Justice Marie-France Courville
stated she had been swayed by the argument made by l’Ordre des
optométristes that in examining the tissue of the eye under magnification,
opticians have been performing an act restricted to optometry.
It is beyond the recollection of many opticians today but this situation
is a duplicate of a case that took place in the 1950’s in Saskatchewan
in the early days of contact lens fitting. Manitoba optician Peggy Grey
was one of the few people in Western Canada, including opticians, optometrists
and ophthalmologists, acknowledged as an expert contact lens fitter.
Ms. Grey traveled from Thunder Bay (at that time Port Arthur/Fort William)
to Saskatchewan, working with ophthalmology to provide contact lens
fitting services. In those days not many people were too interested
in contact lens fitting because the only lenses available were large
scleral lenses. Fitting required huge amounts of patience, was time
consuming work and the return on investment was not a great incentive.
With the advent of the more forgiving soft contact lens, which made
fitting easier, an increasing number of optical professionals began
offering the service. Saskatchewan optometrists challenged Ms. Grey’s
right to fit contact lenses based on her use of the slit lamp biomicroscope
and claimed that in doing so she was performing an examination of the
eye – an act which it was claimed, was outside her scope of practice.
The judgment in that case was in favour of Ms. Grey.
It is our understanding l’Ordre des opticiens d’ordonnances
du Québec will appeal the decision of Justice Marie-France Courville.
Refracting Opticians in France
We have reported previously on proposed legislation in France and England
that would allow opticians in those countries to provide refracting
services under specified circumstances. Some of the conditions set out
in the new legislation, as we understand it, are:
• The optician may perform refraction provided that the client
has originally received a prescription that is less than three years
old.
• The refracting optician must advise the original prescriber
if the refraction reveals a change in prescription so that the prescriber’s
records can be kept up-to-date.
• The refracting optician must wear an identifying badge and must
perform the refraction in a suitable environment using appropriate equipment.
• Suitable candidates must have a prescription that is no more
than three years old and must be no younger than 16 years of age.
Canadian Safety Eyewear Program
In January of 2007, the OAC began administration of the Canadian Safety
Eyewear (CSE) program, which has been active in Alberta for several
years. Since January the administrative office has gone through the
process of learning existing procedures and modifying them to suit a
national rather than a provincial focus. We are now confident in offering
this service to all OAC members across Canada. In essence the CSE program
provides negotiated member prices on safety frames from On-Guard Safety
Corp., Titmus Optical and TEK Canada Optical and provides a safety lens
price list, which may be adopted, upon formal agreement, by a laboratory
of the member’s choice.
OAC members who wish to access the program are paid a generous fitting
fee and can receive a finder’s fee incentive for bringing new
industry contracts to the program. All invoicing and payment is done
through the OAC administrative office. So there is a terrific opportunity
for any optician who wishes to augment business with the steady income
a safety contract can provide. Whether the industry is large or small,
employers must provide a safe work environment so safety eyewear is
a natural fit. All you have to do is look around you and identify potential
sources of business. For more information about the OAC Canadian Safety
Eyewear program contact the OAC office.
Vision Canada Optical Services Buying Group
The Vision Canada Optical Services (VCOS) Buying Group is not restricted
to OAC members. Over 40 industry suppliers including frame, lens, contact
lens and laboratory suppliers now service VCOS. Not only do you benefit
from the purchasing power of the buying group but also at the end of
the year you get a rebate based on your volume of purchases. When you
do your purchasing through the VCOS Buying Group it is easy to manage
your cash flow because you pay a single statement that combines your
purchase from all companies rather than making out a cheque to each
individual supplier.
Vision Canada 2007 Features Special Workshop for Business
Owners
Here’s a heads up for business owners wishing to sign up for the
three-hour business workshop Vision Canada is hosting in conjunction
with its 2007 conference in Kelowna. What better theme to address than
the perils of doing business in today’s competitive dispensing
market? Grady Lenski, director of marketing for Transitions Optical,
is facilitating the workshop entitled “Navigating Uncharted Waters”.
Mr. Lenski has special expertise in strategy development, planning and
organizational development. He will assist registrants in more clearly
understanding how the game is played under today’s rules and how
to develop a winning strategy. The workshop will take place on Sunday
afternoon from 1:00 until 4:00 so you won’t have to miss the Sunday
morning keynote presentation at this year’s conference. The workshop
is limited to 30 participants so send in your registration now.
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