Idaho Pharmacy Regulations Revamp Provides for Remote Supervision of Technicians, More Changes Later

The Idaho Statesman offers this about Idaho's huge pharmacy regulations overhaul:

REWRITING THE RULE BOOK The board is nearing the end of a three-year effort to rewrite the rules governing pharmacies and other places that dispense medications, such as hospitals and nursing homes. The agency wants to dump the 102 pages of rules created over the years to eliminate antiquated language and extend regulation to some areas that haven’t had it before.

PROPOSED MAJOR CHANGES Two areas the board hopes to regulate more closely are telepharmacies and machines that dispense medications.

Telepharmacies permit pharmacy technicians to fill prescriptions under the supervision of a pharmacist, usually some distance away. In some cases, the technician may be in a small hospital that has a pharmacist for only a short period each day. Idaho has a couple of pilot programs now in telepharmacy. As the programs expand, the state will look at regulations. The machines dispense medications either to pharmacists filling prescriptions or to customers who come into a pharmacy to pick up prescribed medications. Pharmacists can put filled prescriptions into the machines that customers can access with a personal code, ending the need to stand in a long line.

THE PROCESS The board hopes to go to the Legislature in January to repeal the existing rules.

HOW YOU CAN BE HEARD A meeting is planned at 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, at the Idaho State Board of Pharmacy office, 1100 Shoreline Lane, Suite 300, Boise. Comments may also be directed to Mark Johnston, executive director, at mark.johnston@bop.idaho.gov.

TO LEARN MORE Go to the Board of Pharmacy’s website at http://bop.accessidaho.org.

New Study: Many US States Neglect Setting Any Telepharmacy Policy

In a new study in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (AJHP), the "Current practices and state regulations regarding telepharmacy in rural hospitals" were examined for a good number of US states. Through a series of interviews with board of pharmacy directors, a team out of the University of Minnesota including Michelle Casey, Todd Sorensen, Walter Elias, Alana Knudson, and Walter Gregg found:

Results. Although telepharmacy is addressed in NABP’s model pharmacy practice act, many state boards are just beginning to address it. The model act addresses the practice of pharmacy across state lines, and the state board directors interviewed generally agreed that pharmacists should be licensed in the state where they are providing the service. States differed on whether a pharmacist should be required to be physically located in a licensed pharmacy and how much time the pharmacist should have to spend onsite. Telepharmacy models being implemented in hospitals in several states incorporate long-distance supervision of pharmacy technicians by pharmacists. The models being implemented vary according to area, state regulations, hospital ownership, and hospital size and medication order volume. Most hospitals reported that they track medication error rates, and some said error rates have improved since telepharmacy implementation.

Conclusion. The application of telepharmacy in rural hospitals varies across the United States but is not widespread, and many states have not defined regulations for telepharmacy in hospitals.