State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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[ Introduced ][ Engrossed ][ Senate Amendment 001 ]

90_SB0902enr

      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
SB902 Enrolled                                 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
SB902 Enrolled              -2-                LRB9000080DPcd
 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  with  whom  the  optometrist  practices   in a
27        professional corporation organized under Section  3.6  of
28        the Professional Service Corporation Act;
29             (12)  12.  a  finding  by  the  Department  that the
30        licensee, after having his license placed on probationary
31        status has violated the terms of probation;
32             (13) 13.  abandonment of a patient;
33             (14) 14.  willfully making or filing  false  records
34        or  reports in his practice, including but not limited to
SB902 Enrolled              -3-                LRB9000080DPcd
 1        false records filed with State agencies or departments;
 2             (15) 15.  willfully failing to report an instance of
 3        suspected child abuse  or  neglect  as  required  by  the
 4        Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act;
 5             (16)   16.  physical   illness,  including  but  not
 6        limited to, deterioration through the aging  process,  or
 7        loss  of  motor  skill  which results in the inability to
 8        practice the profession with reasonable judgment,  skill,
 9        or safety;
10             (17)   17.  solicitation  of  professional  services
11        other than permitted advertising;
12             (18) 18.  failure to provide a patient with  a  copy
13        of his record or prescription upon the written request of
14        the patient;
15             (19)  19.  conviction  by  any  court  of  competent
16        jurisdiction, either within or without this State, of any
17        violation of any law governing the practice of optometry,
18        conviction in this or another State of any crime which is
19        a  felony under the laws of this State or conviction of a
20        felony in a federal court, if the Department  determines,
21        after  investigation,  that  such  person  has  not  been
22        sufficiently rehabilitated to warrant the public trust;
23             (20)  20.  a finding that licensure has been applied
24        for or obtained by fraudulent means;
25             (21) 21.  continued practice by a  person  knowingly
26        having an infectious or contagious disease;
27             (22)   22.  being  named  as  a  perpetrator  in  an
28        indicated report by the Department of Children and Family
29        Services under the Abused and Neglected  Child  Reporting
30        Act, and upon proof by clear and convincing evidence that
31        the  licensee has caused a child to be an abused child or
32        a neglected child as defined in the Abused and  Neglected
33        Child Reporting Act;
34             (23) 23.  practicing or attempting to practice under
SB902 Enrolled              -4-                LRB9000080DPcd
 1        a name other than the full name as shown on his license;
 2             (24)  24.  immoral  conduct in the commission of any
 3        act, such as sexual abuse, sexual  misconduct  or  sexual
 4        exploitation, related to the licensee's practice;
 5             (25)  25.  maintaining  a  professional relationship
 6        with  any  person,  firm,   or   corporation   when   the
 7        optometrist  knows,  or  should  know,  that such person,
 8        firm, or corporation is violating this Act;
 9             (26) 26.  promotion of the sale of  drugs,  devices,
10        appliances  or  goods provided for a client or patient in
11        such manner as to  exploit  the  patient  or  client  for
12        financial gain of the licensee;
13             (27)   27.  using   the   title   "Doctor"   or  its
14        abbreviation without further  qualifying  that  title  or
15        abbreviation with the word "optometry" or "optometrist";
16             (28)  28.  use  by  a  registered optometrist of the
17        word "infirmary", "hospital", "school", "university",  in
18        English  or  any  other  language, in connection with the
19        place where optometry may be practiced or demonstrated;
20             (29)  29.  continuance  of  an  optometrist  in  the
21        employ of any person,  firm  or  corporation,  or  as  an
22        assistant to any optometrist or optometrists, directly or
23        indirectly, after his employer or superior has been found
24        guilty  of  violating or has been enjoined from violating
25        the laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois  relating  to  the
26        practice  of  optometry,  when  the  employer or superior
27        persists in that violation;
28             (30) 30.  the performance of optometric  service  in
29        conjunction  with  a  scheme or plan with another person,
30        firm or corporation known to be advertising in  a  manner
31        contrary  to  this Act or otherwise violating the laws of
32        the  State  of  Illinois  concerning  the   practice   of
33        optometry;
34             (31)  31.  failure  to provide satisfactory proof of
SB902 Enrolled              -5-                LRB9000080DPcd
 1        having  participated  in  approved  continuing  education
 2        programs as determined by the Committee and  approved  by
 3        the Director.  Exceptions for extreme hardships are to be
 4        defined by the rules of the Department;
 5             (32)  32.  willfully  making or filing false records
 6        or reports in the practice of optometry,  including,  but
 7        not  limited  to  false records to support claims against
 8        the medical  assistance  program  of  the  Department  of
 9        Public Aid under the Illinois Public Aid Code;
10             (33)   33.  gross   and   willful  overcharging  for
11        professional services including filing  false  statements
12        for  collection  of  fees  for  which  services  are  not
13        rendered,  including,  but  not  limited  to filing false
14        statements for collection  of  monies  for  services  not
15        rendered  from  the  medical  assistance  program  of the
16        Department of Public Aid under the  Illinois  Public  Aid
17        Code;
18             (34)  34.  in  the  absence  of  good reasons to the
19        contrary, failure to perform a minimum eye examination as
20        required by the rules of the Department;
21             (35)  35.  violation  of  the  Health  Care   Worker
22        Self-Referral Act.
23        The  Department  may  refuse  to issue or may suspend the
24    license or certificate of any person  who  fails  to  file  a
25    return,  or  to  pay  the tax, penalty or interest shown in a
26    filed return, or to pay any  final  assessment  of  the  tax,
27    penalty  or interest, as required by any tax Act administered
28    by the Illinois Department of Revenue, until such time as the
29    requirements of any such tax Act are satisfied.
30        (b)  The determination by a circuit court that a licensee
31    is subject to involuntary admission or judicial admission  as
32    provided  in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
33    Code operates as an  automatic  suspension.   The  suspension
34    will  end  only upon a finding by a court that the patient is
SB902 Enrolled              -6-                LRB9000080DPcd
 1    no  longer  subject  to  involuntary  admission  or  judicial
 2    admission and issues an order so finding and discharging  the
 3    patient;  and upon the recommendation of the Committee to the
 4    Director that the licensee be allowed to resume his practice.
 5    (Source: P.A. 86-596; 87-1207.)
 6        Section  10.  The Professional Service Corporation Act is
 7    amended by changing Section 3.6 as follows:
 8        (805 ILCS 10/3.6) (from Ch. 32, par. 415-3.6)
 9        Sec.   3.6.    "Related   professions"    and    "related
10    professional  services"  mean  more than one personal service
11    which requires as a  condition  precedent  to  the  rendering
12    thereof the obtaining of a license and which prior to October
13    1,  1973  the effective date of this amendatory Act could not
14    be performed by a corporation by  reason  of  law;  provided,
15    however, that these terms shall be restricted to:
16             (1)  a  combination  of two or more of the following
17        personal  services:  (a)  "architecture"  as  defined  in
18        Section 5 of the Illinois Architecture  Practice  Act  of
19        1989,   (b)  "professional  engineering"  as  defined  in
20        Section 4 of the Professional Engineering Practice Act of
21        1989, (c) "structural engineering" as defined in  Section
22        5  of  the  Structural Engineering Licensing Act of 1989,
23        (d) "land surveying" as  defined  in  Section  2  of  the
24        Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989;  or
25             (2)  a   combination   of   the  following  personal
26        services: (a) the practice of  medicine  in  all  of  its
27        branches,  (b)  the  practice  of  podiatry as defined in
28        Section 5 of the Podiatric Medical Practice Act of  1987,
29        (c)  the practice of dentistry as defined in the Illinois
30        Dental Practice Act, (d) the  practice  of  optometry  as
31        defined in the Illinois Optometric Practice Act of 1987.
32    (Source: P.A. 86-711; 86-1475.)

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