Upcoming Changes to the Professional Misconduct Regulation – Effective July 1, 2024

The Ontario Government has approved changes to the Professional Misconduct Regulation. These changes will come into force on July 1, 2024. 
A link to the Professional Misconduct Regulation can be found here. 

What’s Changing?

The Professional Misconduct Regulation is a regulation under the Opticianry Act, 1991. that, together with the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, defines acts of professional misconduct for registrants. 
The Professional Misconduct Regulation applies to all registrants of the College, including:
1.    Registered Opticians
2.    Registered Intern Opticians
3.    Inactive Opticians 
4.    Emergency Opticians 

As of July 1, 2024, certain acts of professional misconduct listed in the regulation will be amended to provide greater clarity and/or to account for changes in the practice environment since the regulation was first enacted in 1993. In addition, a number of new acts of professional misconduct have been added to the regulation. 

Some of the key changes relate the following areas:

• Billing practices: Failing to itemize an account when requested, counselling or assisting in the submission of false or misleading accounts, or failing to advise a patient of the amount to be charged for a service or product before the service is provided or the product is ordered/manufactured
• Record keeping: failing to maintain records in accordance with the Standards of Practice, failing to provide copies of records to patients within a reasonable time of a request.
• Ensuring accountability to patients: failing to do any of the following, when requested: identify oneself to a patient; advise a patient of their right to make a complaint to the College; or provide patients with the College’s contact information.
• Relationship with the College: Failing to attend an oral caution or oral reprimand, failing to respond to the College when required to do so, failing to comply with an order by a Committee of the College, failure to abide by an undertaking or agreement with the College
• Holding out/providing services that exceed skill level: permitting, counselling or assisting another person to hold out as a registered optician, providing a service that is beyond the registrant’s knowledge, skill or judgment, holding out as being qualified to practice another healthcare profession (unless registered with the appropriate regulatory college) 
• Conduct unbecoming an optician: engaging in conduct that would reasonably regarded as conduct unbecoming an optician. 

A full list summarizing each of the changes is below.

Amendments to existing acts of professional misconduct:

• It is currently professional misconduct to delegate a controlled act unless the delegation is authorized by the regulations. The new regulation updates this provision to state that it is professional misconduct to delegate a controlled act contrary to the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 or the regulations under the Opticianry Act, 1991. 
• It is currently professional misconduct to abuse a client verbally or physically. This provision has been amended to state that it is professional misconduct to engage in verbal, physical, psychological or emotional abuse of any person a registrant comes into contact with while practicing the profession.
• An additional exception to the circumstances in which it will not be considered professional misconduct for an optician to discontinue professional services has been added. Under this exception, it will not be considered professional misconduct for a registrant to discontinue services where the patient has failed to make payment within a reasonable time for services/products received, all reasonable attempts by the registrant to facilitate such payments have been unsuccessful, and the services/products are not of an emergency nature.
• It is currently professional misconduct to fail to maintain records as required by the regulation. It is now also professional misconduct to fail to maintain records as required by the Standards of Practice.
• It is currently professional misconduct to fail to provide a patient with a requested report or certificate relating to a service within a reasonable time. The regulation has been updated to also include failing to provide a copy of a requested record within a reasonable time. 
• It is currently professional misconduct to fail to specify the selling price of subnormal vision devices, eyeglasses or contact lenses when requested. This provision has been amended to state that it is professional misconduct to fail to itemize an account if requested by the patient or the person or agency who is paying some or all of the account.  

New acts of professional misconduct:

• Permitting, counseling, or assisting a person who is not a registrant to hold themselves out as a registrant of the profession.
• Failing to advise a patient (or the patient’s authorized representative) to consult another health professional, where the registrant knows or ought to know that the patient requires a service the registrant does not have the knowledge, skills or judgment to offer or which is beyond their scope of practice.
• Failing to advise a patient (or the patient’s authorized representative), when requested, of their right to file a complaint to the College. 
• Failing to provide the College’s address and telephone number to a patient (or the patient’s authorized representative) or a member of the public when requested.
• Failing to identify themselves by name and certificate or registration number when requested by any person the registrant comes into contact with while practising the profession.
• Failing to respond appropriately within the time limit specified to a written communication from the College that asks for a response.
• Identifying oneself to a patient as a person who is qualified to practise as a registrant of a health profession other than opticians, unless lawfully entitled to do so in Ontario under the legislation governing that profession.
• Counselling or assisting in the submission of false or misleading accounts or charges to patients or in respect of their care.
• Failing to advise a patient (or the patient’s authorized representative) of the amount to be charged for a service or product before providing, ordering or manufacturing it.
• Offering, conferring, requesting or receiving a benefit in relation to the referral of a patient.
• Improperly influencing, interfering with or attempting to improperly influence or interfere with another health care provider from properly exercising their professional judgment.
• Failing to attend an oral caution of the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee or an oral reprimand of the Discipline Committee.
• Failing to comply with an order or direction of a Committee or panel of a Committee of the College
• Failing to abide by a written undertaking given by the registrant to the College or by an agreement entered into by the registrant with the College.
• Engaging in conduct that would reasonably be regarded by registrants as conduct unbecoming an optician.
• Providing or attempting to provide services or treatment that the registrant knows or ought to know to be beyond their knowledge, skill or judgment.