What is the corporate practice of optometry and what does it prohibit?
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
The legal doctrine called the “corporate practice of medicine or optometry” actually refers to the legal prohibition that prevents a doctor or an optometrist from working for a corporation (or other business entity) that is owned, operated or controlled by non-physicians or, in the case of optometrists, non-optometrists.
In the context of such laws, the term “non-physician” or “non-optometrist” almost always refers to one who is not licensed in the same state as the practice. Such prohibitions are entirely subject to each state’s laws. Some states have statutes that prohibit the corporate practice of a profession. […]