Terms Used In Florida Statutes 463.009

  • Direct supervision: means supervision to an extent that the licensee remains on the premises while all procedures are being done and gives final approval to any procedures performed by an employee. See Florida Statutes 463.002
  • General supervision: means the responsible supervision of supportive personnel by a licensee who need not be present when such procedures are performed, but who assumes legal liability therefor. See Florida Statutes 463.002
  • Licensed practitioner: means a person who is a primary health care provider licensed to engage in the practice of optometry under the authority of this chapter. See Florida Statutes 463.002
  • Optometry: means the diagnosis of conditions of the human eye and its appendages; the employment of any objective or subjective means or methods, including the administration of ocular pharmaceutical agents, for the purpose of determining the refractive powers of the human eyes, or any visual, muscular, neurological, or anatomic anomalies of the human eyes and their appendages; and the prescribing and employment of lenses, prisms, frames, mountings, contact lenses, orthoptic exercises, light frequencies, and any other means or methods, including ocular pharmaceutical agents, for the correction, remedy, or relief of any insufficiencies or abnormal conditions of the human eyes and their appendages. See Florida Statutes 463.002
No person other than a licensed practitioner may engage in the practice of optometry as defined in s. 463.002(7). Except as provided in this section, under no circumstances shall nonlicensed supportive personnel be delegated diagnosis or treatment duties; however, such personnel may perform data gathering, preliminary testing, prescribed visual therapy, and related duties under the direct supervision of the licensed practitioner. Nonlicensed personnel, who need not be employees of the licensed practitioner, may perform ministerial duties, tasks, and functions assigned to them by and performed under the general supervision of a licensed practitioner, including obtaining information from consumers for the purpose of making appointments for the licensed practitioner. The licensed practitioner shall be responsible for all delegated acts performed by persons under her or his direct and general supervision.