April 17, 2026
1 min read
Key takeaways:
- After certification, optometrists in Tennessee can now perform peripheral iridotomy, selective laser trabeculoplasty and YAG capsulotomy.
- Sixteen states now allow optometric laser surgery.
A law authorizing optometrists to perform certain laser surgeries for glaucoma and after cataract surgery was signed into law in Tennessee on April 14, according to a statement from the American Optometric Association.
The law allows optometrists to perform peripheral iridotomy, selective laser trabeculoplasty and YAG capsulotomy. Before doing so, they must complete relevant training from an accredited optometry school or college and be certified by the state board of optometry.
“This law modernizes our state’s optometric scope to reflect the education and clinical training doctors of optometry receive today, … helping to ensure more patients can get the care they need, when and where they need it,” according to Amanda Dellinger, OD, legislative committee co-chair of the Tennessee Association of Optometric Physicians, in the AOA’s statement.
Dellinger told Healio: “The three approved procedures are already being taught in schools of optometry across the country, including Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee.”
The law also expands the use of local anesthesia for certain treatments and “updates the defined statute to include treatment of the eye, eyelids and adnexa, as well as optometry’s ability to perform aesthetic injections, such as botulinum toxin for cosmetic and therapeutic use,” according to the AOA.
Tennessee is now the 16th state to allow optometric laser surgery, coming soon after the signing of a similar law in Kansas on March 13.
Tennessee Rep. Ryan Williams, the bill’s sponsor in the state House of Representatives, said it would help incentivize optometrists to practice in Tennessee.
“This would allow Tennessee students who go to Tennessee schools to stay here in Tennessee to practice in rural areas across the state,” Williams said during a House session, adding it would also improve access to care.
“Currently, 57 Tennessee counties have no ophthalmologists, and of those, only 41 counties have optometrists,” he said.
Part of the law went into effect immediately, “to allow the state’s board of optometry to promulgate rules around the certification process and performance of the new procedures,” Dellinger told Healio. “The remaining provisions of the bill become effective on Jan. 1, 2028.”
For more information:
The Tennessee Association of Optometric Physicians can be reached at admin@taoponline.org.
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Source:
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