Advertising, Fee Splitting, Referrals, and Unprofessional Conduct
Advertising
Missouri optometrists may advertise, but the content must be truthful, not misleading, and not create false expectations. Prohibited practices include false claims of specialty or certification, guarantees of results, misleading price offers, and use of a deceptive name. Compare price advertising carefully: state the scope of the offer and any required purchase.
Fee splitting and referrals
The board prohibits paying or receiving compensation for the referral of patients-kickbacks, per-patient payments, or a share of fees-where the payment is not for actual services. Arrangements with optical dispensaries, ophthalmologists, and other providers must reflect fair market value for real goods or services. Disclosure of a financial interest in a referral destination is required in many settings.
Unprofessional conduct
Unprofessional conduct includes dishonesty, abusive billing, practicing beyond scope, and conduct that harms the public. It is not limited to clinical errors.
Worked example. An optometrist agrees to pay a local optician $25 for each patient referred for an eye exam. The optician sends ten patients, and the optometrist pays $250. Even though each exam was appropriate, the per-referral payment is fee splitting and violates the act. A lease of space at fair market rent, by contrast, is not a referral fee if documented and not tied to patient volume.
Traps. Calling a kickback a marketing fee; assuming a disclaimer cures a false advertisement; using the term specialist without recognized credentials; failing to keep the written agreement for a business arrangement.