News from the AOA's Blog

After five months of discussion, assertions and arguments by optometrists in hundreds of channels, the AOA’s deliberative body, the House of Delegates, will finally make its position known this month.

Consisting of nearly 1,200 optometrists who represent all state and affiliated optometric associations, the House of Delegates is likely to consider two questions beginning June 26:

–Should the AOA participate in the establishment of the American Board of Optometry?
–If so, should it follow the model for optometric board certification put forth by the Joint Board Certification Project Team?

The AOA Board of Trustees is expected to propose a resolution regarding board certification, although no formal action had been taken as of press time. Once introduced, the members of the House of Delegates are free to offer amendments, revise amendments, discuss, adopt, table or dismiss the resolution.

“We have said since January, when the Joint Board Certification Project Team introduced a model for board certification, that the AOA House of Delegates would be deciding the proposal’s fate,” said AOA Trustee David A. Cockrell, O.D. “We’re glad to have the opportunity to present the case for optometric board certification before the House and to hear AOA members’ views in a serious and deliberative forum.”

Dr. Cockrell and other prominent supporters of board certification maintain that board certification is necessary for optometrists. Key messages of the campaign for certification are:

–Demonstrating continued competency through board certification will be an essential criterion – the price of admission – for participation in government and private insurance coverage.

–Optometry is the only prescribing doctoral-level health care profession that doesn’t have a process to measure continued competency beyond entry level. Board certification is crucial to maintain equal status with other health care professions in the eyes of the public and policymakers.

–Optometry must always look forward to anticipate change and grow as a profession.

Opposition to board certification has gravitated around several themes:

–Optometry is a unique profession and does not need to follow the same path as other health care professions.

–Without residencies, the proposed model is lacks credibility.

–ODs are already board certified by virtue of passing the National Boards.

–There are other, less onerous ways to meet the challenges of value-driven health reform.

Representation in the House of Delegates is determined by the number of members in a state or affiliated optometric association. Only members issued “credentials” by a committee set up specifically for that purpose are able to vote or introduce motions or amendments.

For information about the issue, visit http://certification.aoa.org.

AOA staff will be providing updates on the issue via twitter.com/aoanews, the newsfromaoa.org blog and on the AOA’s Facebook page.