Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0480-01-.01 - DEFINITIONS

As used in these rules, the terms and acronyms shall have the following meanings ascribed to them:

(1) Advertising - Includes, but is not limited to, business solicitations, with or without limiting qualifications, by a card, sign, or device issued to a person; in a sign or marking in or on any building; or in any newspaper, magazine, directory, or other printed matter. Advertising also includes business solicitations communicated by individual, radio, video, or television broadcasting or any other means designed to secure public attention.

(2) Applicant - Any individual seeking licensure by the Board and who has submitted an official application and paid the application fee.

(3) Apprentice - An individual who is registered with the Board; engaged in an approved apprentice training program, as described in Rule 0480-01-.14; practicing opticianry under Sponsoring Supervision; and whose application has been ratified by the Board.

(4) Board - The Board of Dispensing Opticians.

(5) Board administrative office - The office of the administrator assigned to the Board located at 665 Mainstream Drive, Nashville, TN 37243.

(6) Board Designee - Any person who has received a written delegation of authority from the Board to perform Board functions subject to review and ratification by the full Board where provided by these rules.

(7) Closed File - An administrative action which renders an incomplete or denied file inactive.

(8) Department - Tennessee Department of Health.

(9) Direct Supervision - The requirement that a supervising licensed Dispensing Optician, Optometrist, or Ophthalmologist direct, coordinate, review, inspect, and approve acts or services performed by an Apprentice who is training to prepare, fit and dispense ophthalmic materials.

(10) Dispensing Optician - A person holding a current, valid license issued by the Board that authorizes that person to engage in the practice of optical dispensing.

(11) Division - The Division of Health Related Boards, Department of Health, from which the Board receives administrative support.

(12) Examination Service - The testing service whose written examination has been adopted by the Board.

(13) Fee - Money, gifts, services, or anything of value offered or received as compensation in return for rendering services; a payment required of an applicant or licensee pertaining to the application or license.

(14) Fee Splitting - The practice of paying commissions to colleagues out of fees received from clients who have been referred by the colleague for rendering services.

(15) Good Moral Character - The quality of being well regarded in personal behavior and professional ethics.

(16) He/she Him/her - When "he" appears in the text of these rules, the word represents both the feminine and masculine genders.

(17) HRB - When the acronym HRB appears in the text of these rules, it represents Health Related Boards.

(18) License - Document issued to an applicant who successfully completes the licensure process. The license takes the form of an "artistically designed" license as well as other versions bearing an expiration date.

(19) Ophthalmologist - An Ophthalmologist is a physician who has undergone training to specialize in eye care. To become an Ophthalmologist, one must graduate from a four-year college, attend four (4) years of medical training to earn a Medical or Osteopathic doctorate (M.D. or D.O.), then undergo an additional four (4) years of medical and ophthalmologic residency training.

(20) Optical Dispensing - The design, verification and delivery to the intended wearer of lenses, frames, and other specially fabricated optical devices upon prescription.

(21) Optometrist - A person who is licensed to engage in the practice of optometry as defined in Tenn. Code. Ann. § 63-8-102.

(22) Person - Any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, organization, or body politic.

(23) Recognized educational institution - Any educational institution that is accredited by a nationally or regionally recognized educational body or is approved by the Board.

(24) Registrant - Any person who has been lawfully issued a license.

(25) Sponsoring Supervisor - A Dispensing Optician, Optometrist, or Ophthalmologist holding an active and unencumbered Tennessee License, and who is responsible for the Direct Supervision of no more than two (2) Apprentices.

(26) Sponsoring Supervision - The Direct Supervision by a Sponsoring Supervisor of an Apprentice in practice, including the assignment of tasks, and the review, inspection, and approval of acts and services performed by an Apprentice who is training to prepare, fit, and dispense ophthalmic materials. The Sponsoring Supervisor has the ultimate responsibility for., ensuring the Apprentice has met all the requirements of the apprenticeship training program described in Rule 0480-01-.14.

(27) Supervisor - A Dispensing Optician, Optometrist, or Ophthalmologist holding an active and unencumbered Tennessee License, who is actively engaged in the temporary Direct Supervision of an Apprentice who is either temporarily assigned to a workplace location which is not their regular place of employment or at their regular place of employment when the Sponsoring Supervisor is off premises. A Supervisor, at the Supervisor's discretion, shall not oversee more than four (4) Apprentices concurrently.

(28) Use a title or description of - To hold oneself out to the public as having a particular status by means of stating on signs, mailboxes, address plates, stationery, announcements, business cards, or other instruments of professional identification.

(29) Written evidence - Includes, but is not limited to, verification from supervisors or other professional colleagues familiar with the applicant's work.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0480-01-.01

Original rule certified June 7, 1974. Amendment filed November 25, 1986; effective January 9, 1987. Repeal and new rule filed August 2, 1995; effective October 16, 1995. Amendment filed August 7, 1997; effective October 27, 1997. Amendment filed May 6, 2002; effective July 20, 2002. Amendment filed March 27, 2009; effective June 10, 2009. Amendment filed April 1, 2015; effective June 30, 2015. Amendments filed June 15, 2022; effective 9/13/2022.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 63-1-118, 63-14-101, 63-14-102, 63-14-103, 63-14-106, and 63-14-107.