Section 852IAC1-16-1. Continuing education requirements for renewal of an optometry license

   (a) Twenty (20) hours of continuing education are required for renewal of an optometry license.

  (b) Effective for the license period ending April 1, 2014, and every license period thereafter, optometrists are required, as part of the twenty (20) hour requirement under subsection (a), to complete two (2) hours of continuing education in any of the following areas:

(1) Medical charting.

(2) Billing and coding.

(3) Health care compliance.

(4) Compliance with federal or Indiana state laws or regulations.

  (c) Courses that are approved by the board or COPE in the area of jurisprudence and medical record keeping will be accepted under this section.

  (d) Courses under subsection (b) are not considered practice management courses.

  (e) Programs that have not been approved under this article will not be accepted as credit for license renewal.

  (f) An optometrist initially licensed between April 1 of even-numbered years and March 31 of the following odd-numbered year shall be required to obtain ten (10) hours of continuing education for the initial renewal of the license. An optometrist initially licensed between April 1 of odd-numbered years and March 31 of the following even-numbered year shall not be required to obtain continuing education for the initial renewal of the license.

  (g) Continuing education credit units or clock hours:

(1) must be obtained within the biennial renewal period; and

(2) may not be carried over from one (1) licensure period to another.

A course is eligible for credit only once in a renewal cycle regardless of the number of times it is attended.

  (h) If a licensee is licensed in Indiana and any other state with a mandatory continuing education requirement, the board will accept that requirement of the other state, provided the:

(1) number of clock hours or credit units; and

(2) quality;

of the continuing education equal or exceed the Indiana requirement.

  (i) Any continuing education hours that are counted towards the renewal of a licensee's legend drug certificate issued under IC 25-24-3 may not be counted towards the renewal of the licensee's optometry license. Eligible credit hours earned in excess of the number of hours required to renew the optometric legend drug certificate may be counted toward the renewal of the licensee's optometry license. (Indiana Optometry Board; 852 IAC 1-16-1; filed Jul 23, 1987, 9:15 a.m.: 10 IR 2737; filed Feb 21, 1992, 4:00 p.m.: 15 IR 1221; filed Jan 26, 1995, 4:30 p.m.: 18 IR 1477; filed Jan 3, 2000, 10:07 a.m.: 23 IR 1106; readopted filed Jul 10, 2001, 2:59 p.m.: 24 IR 4238; filed Aug 8, 2006, 11:01 a.m.: 20060906-IR-852050325FRA; filed Aug 30, 2012, 2:03 p.m.: 20120926-IR-852120164FRA)