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| [ Engrossed ] | [ Enrolled ] | [ Senate Amendment 001 ] |
90_SB0902
225 ILCS 80/24 from Ch. 111, par. 3924
805 ILCS 10/3.6 from Ch. 32, par. 415-3.6
Amends the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987 to
provide that an optometrist may split fees with certain
practitioners providing related professional services in a
corporation organized under the Professional Service
Corporation Act. Amends the Professional Service Corporation
Act to allow optometrists to jointly own a corporation in
combination with practitioners of medicine, podiatry, and
dentistry.
LRB9000080DPcd
LRB9000080DPcd
1 AN ACT concerning the practice of optometry, amending
2 named Acts.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987
6 is amended by changing Section 24 as follows:
7 (225 ILCS 80/24) (from Ch. 111, par. 3924)
8 Sec. 24. Grounds for disciplinary action.
9 (a) The Department may refuse to issue or to renew, or
10 may revoke, suspend, place on probation, reprimand or take
11 other disciplinary action as the Department may deem proper,
12 including fines not to exceed $5,000 for each violation, with
13 regard to any license or certificate for any one or
14 combination of the following causes:
15 (1) 1. violations of this Act, or of the rules
16 promulgated hereunder;
17 (2) 2. conviction of any crime under the laws of
18 any U.S. jurisdiction thereof which is a felony or which
19 is a misdemeanor, an essential element of which is
20 dishonesty, or of any crime which is directly related to
21 the practice of the profession;
22 (3) 3. making any misrepresentation for the purpose
23 of obtaining a license or certificate;
24 (4) 4. professional incompetence or gross
25 negligence in the practice of optometry;
26 (5) 5. gross malpractice, prima facie evidence of
27 which may be a conviction or judgment of malpractice in
28 any court of competent jurisdiction.
29 (6) 6. aiding or assisting another person in
30 violating any provision of this Act or rules;
31 (7) 7. failing, within 60 days, to provide
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1 information in response to a written request made by the
2 Department which has been sent by certified or registered
3 mail to the licensee's last known address;
4 (8) 8. engaging in dishonorable, unethical, or
5 unprofessional conduct of a character likely to deceive,
6 defraud, or harm the public;
7 (9) 9. habitual or excessive use or addiction to
8 alcohol, narcotics, stimulants or any other chemical
9 agent or drug which results in the inability to practice
10 with reasonable judgment, skill, or safety;
11 (10) 10. discipline by another U.S. jurisdiction or
12 foreign nation, if at least one of the grounds for the
13 discipline is the same or substantially equivalent to
14 those set forth herein;
15 (11) 11. directly or indirectly giving to or
16 receiving from any person, firm, corporation,
17 partnership, or association any fee, commission, rebate,
18 or other form of compensation for any professional
19 services not actually or personally rendered. This shall
20 not be deemed to include (i) rent or other remunerations
21 paid to an individual, partnership, or corporation by an
22 optometrist for the lease, rental, or use of space, owned
23 or controlled, by the individual, partnership,
24 corporation or association, and (ii) the division of fees
25 between an optometrist and related professional service
26 providers in a professional corporation organized under
27 Section 3.6 of the Professional Service Corporation Act;
28 (12) 12. a finding by the Department that the
29 licensee, after having his license placed on probationary
30 status has violated the terms of probation;
31 (13) 13. abandonment of a patient;
32 (14) 14. willfully making or filing false records
33 or reports in his practice, including but not limited to
34 false records filed with State agencies or departments;
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1 (15) 15. willfully failing to report an instance of
2 suspected child abuse or neglect as required by the
3 Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
4 (16) 16. physical illness, including but not
5 limited to, deterioration through the aging process, or
6 loss of motor skill which results in the inability to
7 practice the profession with reasonable judgment, skill,
8 or safety;
9 (17) 17. solicitation of professional services
10 other than permitted advertising;
11 (18) 18. failure to provide a patient with a copy
12 of his record or prescription upon the written request of
13 the patient;
14 (19) 19. conviction by any court of competent
15 jurisdiction, either within or without this State, of any
16 violation of any law governing the practice of optometry,
17 conviction in this or another State of any crime which is
18 a felony under the laws of this State or conviction of a
19 felony in a federal court, if the Department determines,
20 after investigation, that such person has not been
21 sufficiently rehabilitated to warrant the public trust;
22 (20) 20. a finding that licensure has been applied
23 for or obtained by fraudulent means;
24 (21) 21. continued practice by a person knowingly
25 having an infectious or contagious disease;
26 (22) 22. being named as a perpetrator in an
27 indicated report by the Department of Children and Family
28 Services under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
29 Act, and upon proof by clear and convincing evidence that
30 the licensee has caused a child to be an abused child or
31 a neglected child as defined in the Abused and Neglected
32 Child Reporting Act;
33 (23) 23. practicing or attempting to practice under
34 a name other than the full name as shown on his license;
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1 (24) 24. immoral conduct in the commission of any
2 act, such as sexual abuse, sexual misconduct or sexual
3 exploitation, related to the licensee's practice;
4 (25) 25. maintaining a professional relationship
5 with any person, firm, or corporation when the
6 optometrist knows, or should know, that such person,
7 firm, or corporation is violating this Act;
8 (26) 26. promotion of the sale of drugs, devices,
9 appliances or goods provided for a client or patient in
10 such manner as to exploit the patient or client for
11 financial gain of the licensee;
12 (27) 27. using the title "Doctor" or its
13 abbreviation without further qualifying that title or
14 abbreviation with the word "optometry" or "optometrist";
15 (28) 28. use by a registered optometrist of the
16 word "infirmary", "hospital", "school", "university", in
17 English or any other language, in connection with the
18 place where optometry may be practiced or demonstrated;
19 (29) 29. continuance of an optometrist in the
20 employ of any person, firm or corporation, or as an
21 assistant to any optometrist or optometrists, directly or
22 indirectly, after his employer or superior has been found
23 guilty of violating or has been enjoined from violating
24 the laws of the State of Illinois relating to the
25 practice of optometry, when the employer or superior
26 persists in that violation;
27 (30) 30. the performance of optometric service in
28 conjunction with a scheme or plan with another person,
29 firm or corporation known to be advertising in a manner
30 contrary to this Act or otherwise violating the laws of
31 the State of Illinois concerning the practice of
32 optometry;
33 (31) 31. failure to provide satisfactory proof of
34 having participated in approved continuing education
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1 programs as determined by the Committee and approved by
2 the Director. Exceptions for extreme hardships are to be
3 defined by the rules of the Department;
4 (32) 32. willfully making or filing false records
5 or reports in the practice of optometry, including, but
6 not limited to false records to support claims against
7 the medical assistance program of the Department of
8 Public Aid under the Illinois Public Aid Code;
9 (33) 33. gross and willful overcharging for
10 professional services including filing false statements
11 for collection of fees for which services are not
12 rendered, including, but not limited to filing false
13 statements for collection of monies for services not
14 rendered from the medical assistance program of the
15 Department of Public Aid under the Illinois Public Aid
16 Code;
17 (34) 34. in the absence of good reasons to the
18 contrary, failure to perform a minimum eye examination as
19 required by the rules of the Department;
20 (35) 35. violation of the Health Care Worker
21 Self-Referral Act.
22 The Department may refuse to issue or may suspend the
23 license or certificate of any person who fails to file a
24 return, or to pay the tax, penalty or interest shown in a
25 filed return, or to pay any final assessment of the tax,
26 penalty or interest, as required by any tax Act administered
27 by the Illinois Department of Revenue, until such time as the
28 requirements of any such tax Act are satisfied.
29 (b) The determination by a circuit court that a licensee
30 is subject to involuntary admission or judicial admission as
31 provided in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
32 Code operates as an automatic suspension. The suspension
33 will end only upon a finding by a court that the patient is
34 no longer subject to involuntary admission or judicial
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1 admission and issues an order so finding and discharging the
2 patient; and upon the recommendation of the Committee to the
3 Director that the licensee be allowed to resume his practice.
4 (Source: P.A. 86-596; 87-1207.)
5 Section 10. The Professional Service Corporation Act is
6 amended by changing Section 3.6 as follows:
7 (805 ILCS 10/3.6) (from Ch. 32, par. 415-3.6)
8 Sec. 3.6. "Related professions" and "related
9 professional services" mean more than one personal service
10 which requires as a condition precedent to the rendering
11 thereof the obtaining of a license and which prior to October
12 1, 1973 the effective date of this amendatory Act could not
13 be performed by a corporation by reason of law; provided,
14 however, that these terms shall be restricted to:
15 (1) a combination of two or more of the following
16 personal services: (a) "architecture" as defined in
17 Section 5 of the Illinois Architecture Practice Act of
18 1989, (b) "professional engineering" as defined in
19 Section 4 of the Professional Engineering Practice Act of
20 1989, (c) "structural engineering" as defined in Section
21 5 of the Structural Engineering Licensing Act of 1989,
22 (d) "land surveying" as defined in Section 2 of the
23 Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989; or
24 (2) a combination of the following personal
25 services: (a) the practice of medicine in all of its
26 branches, (b) the practice of podiatry as defined in
27 Section 5 of the Podiatric Medical Practice Act of 1987,
28 (c) the practice of dentistry as defined in the Illinois
29 Dental Practice Act, (d) the practice of optometry as
30 defined in the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987.
31 (Source: P.A. 86-711; 86-1475.)