Advertising, Fee Splitting, and Business Relationships
What this domain tests
This domain tests truthful advertising, prohibited fee splitting, and the rules that keep clinical judgment with the licensed optometrist when business relationships are involved.
Core rules
- Advertising must be truthful and not misleading. Price advertising must disclose material conditions and additional fees. Guarantees, false claims of superiority, and misleading specialty claims are prohibited.
- Fee splitting is prohibited: an optometrist may not pay or receive compensation for the referral of patients except as permitted among licensed professionals for bona fide services. A per-patient bonus to a referrer is unlawful.
- Unlicensed persons may not control professional judgment or own a professional optometric practice. Management and lease arrangements must not cede clinical control.
- Medicare and Medicaid inducement rules separately prohibit remuneration for referrals of federally reimbursed services.
- Business relationships should be in writing and should preserve the optometrist's independent judgment.
Worked example
A landlord offers the optometrist a reduced rent if the optometrist refers patients to the landlord's optical shop. Reasoning: the rent reduction is compensation for referrals and constitutes prohibited fee splitting, regardless of how it is labeled. The optometrist should decline or restructure the lease so rent is fair market value and unrelated to referrals.
Traps
Calling a referral payment a "marketing fee"; assuming a discount is always permissible; letting a non-optometrist owner set clinical schedules or productivity quotas that override judgment; advertising "free" when a purchase is required.
Key points
- Advertising must be truthful and not misleading.
- Price ads must disclose material conditions and fees.
- Fee splitting for referrals is prohibited.
- Unlicensed persons may not control clinical judgment.
- Medicare and Medicaid inducement rules apply separately.