MDs in New Hampshire have fought against the ability of Doctors of Optometry to care for their patients since the 1970s. In that time, MDs have tried to stop Optometrists from:

• Dilating patient’s pupils.
• Prescribing eye drops for pink eye and glaucoma.
• Prescribing oral medication for eye infections and inflammation.
• Performing in-office procedures to treat eye infections, inflammation and other conditions.
• Administering vaccines

MDs try to convince the public and legislators that only they should be allowed to perform these procedures despite zero evidence of ill-effects of optometric care over the past four decades. The entire Optometry profession has been built upon personal eye health and vision care for the betterment of society. This is why the public prefers Optometrists for their personalized eye health care.

HB 349 allows three common non-invasive, in-office laser procedures to treat chronic glaucoma, treat and prevent acute emergency glaucoma, and remove a film that commonly develops after cataract surgery. It does not include procedures that require cutting into the eye, are completed in an operating room or require the use of general anesthesia. Legislation also authorizes the Board of Optometry to develop rules that must include live patient experience regarding certification of optometrists to perform these procedures.

Optometrists are not allowed to perform any procedures that are not part of the accredited optometric curriculum.

In fact, HB 349 includes a long list of surgical exclusions to cement them into law.

Doctors of Optometry have been performing in‑office procedures since the 1980s. The argument that only MDs are supposed to perform these procedures ended more than three decades ago. 

Every Doctor of Optometry school across the nation trains optometrists for in‑office surgical and in-office eye laser procedures. In addition, every Optometrist that performs in‑office eye laser procedures has been certified by experts including ophthalmologists. 

It's time to modernize the practice of Optometry in New Hampshire. 

The number of ophthalmologists in the U.S. has remained stable since 1990, while the number of patients over age 65 will increase 42% by 2030 and 83% by 2050. This provider-to-patient imbalance will continue to worsen as 50% of ophthalmologists are older than 50 years old and closer to retirement than training. American Academy of Ophthalmology 2022

From 2020 to 2035, the total ophthalmology supply is projected to decrease by 12% and total demand is projected to increase by 24%, representing a supply and demand mismatch of 30% workforce inadequacy. In New Hampshire, which is tied with Vermont as the second oldest state by median age, the supply and demand mismatch is even more strained. ScienceDirect 2023

One optometrist in Oklahoma performed more laser procedures than a group of ophthalmologists.  MDs exploited that by writing a paper about it. However, MDs refused to look at the nationwide data because it showed 13x more Eye MDs required patients to have 3 procedures compared to when Doctors of Optometry perform the same.      

In-office eye laser procedure certification is a major endeavor. It requires:

• 4 years of Doctor of Optometry school
• Evaluation and management of thousands of patients
• Years of training in ocular disease and treatment
• Three board examinations
• Performance proficiency examination

It is the job of healthcare providers to remain current with medical advances and technologies.

No medical profession stands still.

All healthcare professionals learn new advances through continuing education (CE), including MDs, which builds on their formal foundational knowledge and skill.