The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Contact lens" means any lens placed directly on the surface of the eye, regardless of whether or not it is intended to correct a visual defect. Contact lens includes, but is not limited to, cosmetic, therapeutic, and corrective lenses that are a federally regulated medical device.

(2) "Corrective lenses" means any lenses, including lenses in spectacles and contact lenses, that are manufactured in accordance with the specific terms of a valid prescription for an individual patient for the purpose of correcting the patient's refractive or binocular error.

(3) "Department" means the department of health.

(4) "Diagnostic information and data" mean any and all information and data, including but not limited to photographs and scans, generated by or through the use of any remote technology.

(5) "Patient-practitioner relationship" means the relationship between a provider of medical services, the practitioner, and a receiver of medical services, the patient, based on mutual understanding of their shared responsibility for the patient's health care.

(6) "Prescription" means the written or electronic directive from a qualified provider for corrective lenses and consists of the refractive power as well as contact lens parameters in the case of contact lens prescriptions.

(7) "Qualified provider" means a physician licensed under chapter 18.71 RCW or an osteopathic physician licensed under chapter 18.57 RCW practicing ophthalmology, or a person licensed under chapter 18.53 RCW to practice optometry.

(8) "Remote qualified provider" means any qualified provider who is not physically present at the time of the examination.

(9) "Remote technology" means any automated equipment or testing device and any application designed to be used on or with a phone, computer, or internet-based device that is used without the physical presence and participation of a qualified provider that generates data for purposes of determining an individual's refractive error. Remote technology does not include the use of telemedicine as defined in RCW 48.43.735 for purposes other than determining an individual's refractive error.

(10) "Spectacles" means any device worn by an individual that has one or more lenses through which the wearer looks. Spectacles are commonly known and referred to as glasses, and may include cosmetic or corrective lenses.

(11) "Standard of care" means those standards developed and defined by the American academy of ophthalmology preferred practice pattern "Comprehensive Adult Medical Eye Evaluation" (Appendix 1), as the preferred practice pattern existed on June 11, 2020.

(12) "Standard of care for contact lenses" means the frequency of eye examinations as recommended for contact lens wearers in the American academy of ophthalmology publication "Refractive Errors & Refractive Surgery Preferred Practice Pattern" (Appendix 2), as the preferred practice pattern existed on June 11, 2020.

Short title—2020 c 241: See note following RCW 18.56.010.