2016 Changes to JCAHPO Core Certification Exams

Approximately every five years JCAHPO updates the content for the COA, COT and COMT certification exams. These changes keep the certifications relevant and reflect respnses to periodic surveys about the tasks Allied Ophthalmic Personnel perform day to day in the clinic.

Currently, the core exams are divided into NINETEEN separate content areas including

• Pharmacology

• Ocular Motility

• Lensometry

• Ophthalmic Imaging

• Visual Fields ...and more.

This will change in August of 2016.  The exams will be re-categorized into just FIVE content areas which will include the old test content plus additional content areas. These five core areas are:

• Assessments (includes Visual Fields, Motility, Visual Assessment, History Taking, Refractometry and Refinement, Retinoscopy, Pupils, Lensometry, Keratometry, Biometry and Supplemental Testing)

• Assisting with Interventions and Procedures (Includes Microbiology, Pharmacology, Surgical Assisting and Ophthalmic Patient Services & Education)

• Corrective Lenses (Includes Optics, Spectacles and Contact Lenses)

• Imaging (Includes Imaging, Photography and Videography)

• Office Responsibilities (Includes Equipment Maintenance & Calibration, Medical Ethics, Legal and Regulatory Issues, Communication Skills and Administrative Duties)

If you're preparing for a JCAHPO certification exam, now is the time to decide if you want to take the exam before or after August, 2016. To help you prepare, JCAHPO and I have partnered to bring you COA & COT Exam Prep Courses. See a free sneak peek on this website on the 'Online Courses' page. The course content will be updated in time for the August, 2016 changes.