License Renewal

PURPOSE: This rule clarifies the license renewal requirements and procedures. (1) Every licensed optometrist shall notify the board of any change of legal name, mailing address, and telephone number within thirty (30) days. (2) Every licensed optometrist shall prominently display his/her renewal license in his/her principal place of practice. (3) Whenever a licensed optometrist has additional offices, he/she, in lieu of delivering a certificate of identification to each patient in his/her care pursuant to section 336.070, RSMo, may prominently display a duplicate renewal license in each additional office. (4) Failure of the licensee to receive a renewal application shall not relieve the licensee of the obligation to renew the license and pay the renewal fee prior to the license expiration date. Deposit of the renewal fee by the board or the Division of Professional Registration does not indicate acceptance of the renewal application or that any licensing requirements have been fulfilled. (5) Effective with the two- (2-) year continuing education reporting period beginning on November 1, 2008, every optometrist currently licensed in Missouri shall obtain a minimum of thirty-two (32) hours of approved continuing education (herein “C.E.” credits) relevant to the practice of optometry. Any hours acquired beyond the required number may be carried forward into the next renewal period not to exceed sixteen (16) hours. (6) The two- (2-) year continuing education reporting period shall begin on November 1 and end on October 31. C.E. credits earned after October 31 of the second year of the reporting period shall apply to the next reporting period unless the licensee pays the continuing education penalty fee. Payment of the continuing education penalty fee will provide a licensee with the ability to earn C.E. credits on or after November 1 and before December 31 and apply any needed C.E. credits to the prior reporting period. If the licensee pays the continuing education penalty fee for C.E. credits earned late, those credits shall not be applied to the next reporting period. A renewal license will not be issued until all renewal requirements have been met. (7) Licensees shall report the number of C.E. credits earned during the continuing education reporting period on the renewal form provided by the board. The licensee shall not submit the record of C.E. attendance to the board except in the case of a board audit. (8) Every licensed optometrist shall maintain full and complete records of all approved C.E. credits earned for the two (2) previous reporting periods in addition to the current reporting period. The records shall document the titles of the courses taken, dates, locations, course sponsors, and number of hours earned. The board may conduct an audit of licensees to verify compliance with the continuing education requirement. Licensees shall assist the board in its audit by providing timely and complete responses to the board’s inquiries. (9) Violation of any provision of this rule shall be deemed by the board to constitute misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation, dishonesty, unethical conduct, or unprofessional conduct in the performance of the functions or duties of an optometrist depending on the licensee’s conduct. In addition, a licensee who has failed to complete and report in a timely fashion the required thirty-two (32) hours of continuing education and engages in the active practice of optometry without the express written authority of the board shall be deemed to have engaged in the unauthorized practice of optometry. (10) The following guidelines govern the attendance of educational optometric programs for license renewal: (A) Each speaker, lecturer, or other participant in the presentation of the continuing education program must be recognized as possessing the requisite qualifications and as being expert in his/her field. The board will determine whether a speaker, lecturer, or other person meets the requirements of this section; (B) Instruction courses sponsored for commercial purposes by individuals or institutions or programs in which the speaker advertises or urges the use of any particular ophthalmic product or appliance generally shall not be recognized for educational credit. Exceptions may be made if the procedure in subsection (10)(D) is followed and the majority of the board votes to recognize the instruction course or program; (C) Educational programs that currently are approved, except as noted in subsection (10)(B), as meeting the minimum standards include the following: 1. Educational meetings of the American Optometric Association (AOA); 2. Educational meetings of the National Optometric Association (NOA); 3. Educational meetings of the Missouri Optometric Association or any other state or regional optometric association affiliated with the American Optometric Association. This excludes local society meetings unless the courses are approved by an entity pursuant to this rule; 4. Scientific sections and continuing education courses of the American Academy of Optometry; 5. Postgraduate courses offered by any accredited college of optometry; 6. Educational meetings of the Southern Council of Optometrists; 7. Educational meetings approved by the COPE; 8. Educational meetings of the North Central States Optometric Council; 9. Educational meetings of the Heart of America Optometric Congress and the Heart of America Contact Lens Society; 10. Educational meetings of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development; 11. Educational meetings of the Optometric Extension Program; 12. Optometric related meetings of any accredited school of medicine; and 13. Continuing education courses by the American Board of Optometry; (D) With the exception of any of the previously mentioned educational organizations, any other regularly organized group of optometrists that wishes to sponsor an educational program to meet the standard for license renewal in Missouri shall submit one (1) copy of the program schedule and outline to the board’s executive director not fewer than thirty (30) days prior to the date of the program and shall pay the continuing education sponsor fee. The outline must indicate the program’s subject matter, the number of hours required for its presentation, and the identity and qualifications of the speakers and instructors. The board shall review the schedule and outline. If the program meets the standards set out in subsections (10)(A)–(B), the board may grant approval. The board will not consider requests for approval of any program submitted following the meeting; (E) Of the thirty-two (32) hours of boardapproved continuing education required for license renewal, no more than sixteen (16) hours may be obtained through distance learning methods such as correspondence courses, online only courses, magazine articles, or other methods where the licensee is not physically present with the course speaker or presenter. Live interactive virtual presentations shall not be considered distance learning courses and as such shall not be restricted; (F) Individuals who obtain a license by endorsement during the second year of a two- (2-) year reporting period will only be required to obtain sixteen (16) hours of continuing education in order to renew the license for the initial license renewal. Individuals who obtain a license by endorsement during the first year of a two- (2-) year reporting period will be required to obtain thirty-two (32) hours of board-approved continuing education in order to renew the license for the initial license renewal; (G) Individuals who obtain a license by examination are considered to have satisfied the continuing education requirement for the first renewal after their initial license date; (H) Licensees who present Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE)- approved continuing education will be allowed one (1) hour of continuing education credit for each hour of the continuing education presented. Each COPE numbered course may be used one (1) time for continuing education credit during the reporting period; (I) Licensees who are enrolled in a postgraduate residency program accredited by the Council on Optometric Practitioner Education will receive sixteen (16) hours of continuing education credit to satisfy one (1) year of the two- (2-) year reporting period; and (J) The board will consider requests for exemption from the educational requirements only if the request for exemption is filed with the board’s executive director and actually approved by the board before the end of the reporting period. The request for exemption must clearly set out the reasons asserted for noncompliance, including at least a listing of all other years for which the board has exempted the licensee and a listing of the dates upon which the licensee’s reasons for exemption required his/her absence from active practice. In its discretion, the board may refuse to exempt a licensee from the required attendance, notwithstanding the existence of a valid reason, if the board determines that the licensee has or had other reasonable opportunities to meet the requirements of this rule. (11) The license renewal period shall commence on November 1 and end on October 31 of each even-numbered year. AUTHORITY: sections 336.080 and 336.160.1, RSMo Supp. 2021.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 210-2.030. Original rule filed Dec. 19, 1975, effective Dec. 29, 1975. Amended: Filed Aug. 30, 1979, effective Feb. 11, 1980. Amended: Filed Sept. 12, 1980, effective Dec. 13, 1980. Rescinded and readopted: Filed Oct. 14, 1981, effective Jan. 14, 1982. Amended: Filed Feb. 9, 1982, effective May 13, 1982. Amended: Filed Oct. 12, 1982, effective Jan. 13, 1983. Amended: Filed Feb. 8, 1983, effective May 12, 1983. Amended: Filed Aug. 4, 1986, effective Oct. 27, 1986. Amended: Filed Oct. 28, 1987, effective Jan. 29, 1988. Amended: Filed Sept. 6, 1988, effective Dec. 11, 1988. Amended: Filed May 17, 1989, effective Aug. 24, 1989. Amended: Filed Feb. 4, 1992, effective June 25, 1992. Amended: Filed May 21, 1993, effective Nov. 8, 1993. Amended: Filed Sept. 13, 1995, effective March 30, 1996. Amended: Filed June 16, 1998, effective Dec. 30, 1998. Amended: Filed Dec. 14, 2001, effective June 30, 2002. Amended: Filed Jan. 3, 2006, effective June 30, 2006. Moved to 20 CSR 2210-2.030, effective Aug. 28, 2006. Amended: Filed June 14, 2007, effective Dec. 30, 2007. Amended: Filed Dec. 5, 2007, effective June 30, 2008. Amended: Filed Aug. 27, 2010, effective March 30, 2011. Amended: Filed Nov. 19, 2013, effective May 30, 2014. Amended: Filed July 18, 2016, effective Jan. 30, 2017. Amended: Filed Aug. 23, 2018, effective Feb. 28, 2019. ** Amended: Filed Aug. 7, 2020, effective Feb. 28, 2021. Amended: Filed March 3, 2022, effective Sept. 30, 2022. *Original authority: 336.080, RSMo 1939, amended 1943, 1963, 1981, 2007, 2020, and 336.160.1, RSMo 1939, amended 1947, 1963, 1981, 2007, 2008, 2018. **Pursuant to Executive Order 21-07, 20 CSR 2210-2.030, subsection (10)(E) was suspended from March 20, 2020 through August 5, 2021.