title: Management of contact lens prescriptions.
abstract: A patient's access to information in an optometrist's record is regulated by an amalgam of federal and state laws and judicial decisions. The inspection of records by patients is permitted except under extraordinary circumstances, and optometrists who refuse access in contravention to legal requirements face disciplinary action from regulatory boards. Although contact lens prescriptions are part of an optometrist's record, the obligation to release prescriptions is restricted to 17 states. Optometrists in these states must comply with the requirements of state law; in other states, optometrists should establish an office policy for the release of contact lens prescriptions, communicate this policy to patients at the start of the doctor-patient relationship, and ensure that it is properly administered.
authors: School of Optometry/Medical Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors: J G
authors: JG
authors: Classé
mesh_terms: D003261:Contact Lenses; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D009907:Optometry; D055656:Prescriptions