Complying with the Federal Trade Commissions Eyeglass Rule

You may be wondering why we now ALWAYS provide you with a physical copy of your glasses prescription immediately following your exam, even if you did not ask us to do so– We hope this sheds some light on the subject🧐💡 The Federal Trade Commission enforces the Eyeglass Rule, which requires eye doctors (ophthalmologists and optometrists) to give patients a copy of their prescription, whether they ask for it or not and before offering to sell eyeglasses. We also have you sign the copy we provide you and scan that signed copy into your file so that we have proof that we are in compliance with the law, and caring for our patients to the utmost of our ability.
If you are interested in learning more about this, you can click on the link below ⬇️ for all of the details regarding this rule. The main points as it applies to you as our patient are included in this post for a more brief explanation.
https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/complying-eyeglass-rule

Complying with the Eyeglass Rule

The Federal Trade Commission enforces the Eyeglass Rule. It requires eye doctors – ophthalmologists and optometrists – to give patients a copy of their prescription, whether they ask for it or not and before offering to sell eyeglasses. It’s the law. Here are questions and answers to help you comply with the Eyeglass Rule.

What should a prescription include?

The Eyeglass Rule defines a prescription as “the written specifications for lenses for eyeglasses which are derived from a refractive eye examination, including all of the information specified by state law, if any, necessary to obtain lenses for eyeglasses.”

Many states require the prescription to include:

the patient’s name,
the date of the patient’s exam and/or when the prescription was issued,
when the prescription expires, and
your name, contact information, and signature.

The prescription should be legible and complete. In addition, some states require you to include the patient’s pupillary distance in their prescription. If your patient wants to buy glasses online, they will need that measurement. If you take a patient’s pupillary distance measurement, we encourage you to provide it to your patient. It is likely they are entitled to a copy under Federal or State record requirements, which involves a process that may be more time consuming for you and your patient.

When do I need to provide the prescription?

You must give a patient a copy of the prescription:

immediately after completing any refractive eye examination (no matter the purpose of the examination, and regardless of whether you charge for the refraction),
whether or not the patient asks for it, and
before offering to sell the patient glasses.

A refractive eye examination is defined by the Rule as “the process of determining the refractive condition of a person’s eyes or the presence of any visual anomaly by the use of objective or subjective tests.”

If you have tasked your front desk staff with giving prescriptions to patients, train them on how to comply with the Eyeglass Rule. Make sure they give eyeglass prescriptions at the end of the eye examination without the patient having to ask for it and without charging an extra fee for the prescription. Asking the patient if they want their prescription doesn’t comply with the Rule. You must provide the prescription automatically unless the patient specifically refuses the prescription, in which case you should make a note of their refusal in the file. Your staff also must give prescriptions to patients before you or anyone at your office offers to sell them glasses.