Advocacy & Practice Updates — Advocacy & Practice
Honoring Our Veterans: Fighting Back on VA Efforts to Expand Optometrists’ Scope of Practice
As the nation prepares to honor those who have fought and died for our country this Memorial Day, it is also important to ensure veterans continue to receive the highest quality care through the Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Healthcare system. ASRS remains committed to pushing back on efforts to reduce that quality through expansion of optometrists’ scope of practice.
Several years ago, the VA began a process to harmonize the care across facilities by creating national standards for each healthcare profession providing care. Dubbed the “VA Supremacy Project” these standards would supersede state-level licensing regulations and allow each profession to provide the same level of services nationwide. ASRS and the other ophthalmic societies are concerned that a potential optometry standard will in-effect create a dangerous national standard permitting optometrists to perform invasive procedures.
In an effort to head off a draft optometry standard, ASRS has written to the VA, participated in a listening session, and submitted Congressional testimony warning of the potential negative impact on veterans’ ocular health. While the VA has not abandoned the project or plans for expanding optometrists’ scope, the process has slowed significantly and not addressed the scope of any profession with scope of practice issues likely due to the significant pushback from physician groups, including ASRS.
Click here for a Retina Times article with full details of the Supremacy Project. ASRS continues to seek member advocates who are veterans. If you’d like to get involved, please contact Allison Madson, vice president of health policy, at allison.madson@asrs.org.