As policymakers and other stakeholders continue debating how to best balance affordable health care and patient access, they are increasingly looking to expand the role pharmacists play in patient care. Numerous factors, including rising health care costs, a longer-living population,...

Use of e-prescribing rose in 2011, with 570 million prescriptions routed electronically in 2011 compared with 326 million in 2010, a 75% increase according to the latest National Progress Report on E-Prescribing and Interoperable Healthcare, published by Surescripts, operator of...

The following bills passed in Washington State’s 2012 legislative session and may be of interest to the practice of pharmacy. HB1486 – This bill was reintroduced from 2010. The bill permits Washington State pharmacists to dispense controlled substance prescriptions written...

The Kentucky prescription monitoring program (PMP), known as the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting (KASPER) program, has agreed to join the NABP PMP InterConnectSM, the system that facilitates the secure sharing of data between state PMPs, a key element...

Published in the November 2009 Alabama State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter A new law authorizes qualified, approved physician assistants (PAs) to prescribe controlled substances in Schedules III, IV, and V. The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners is in the process...

Reprinted from the July 2009 New Jersey Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The Board recently received an inquiry regarding the authority of nurses in assisted living facilities to telephone pharmacies with verbal prescription orders taken from the prescriber. N.J.A.C. 13:39-7.10 lists...

Published in the March 2009 Kansas State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The Physician Assistant Licensure Act and the Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner Act do not specifically preclude mid-level practitioners from writing prescriptions for themselves or their family members. The American...

Published in the December 2008 Vermont Board of Pharmacy Newsletter  The National Association of Physician Assistants has a policy concerning physician assistants’ (PA) ability to write prescriptions and the information that those prescriptions must include. Portions of that policy are...

Published in the September 2008 Idaho Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Physician assistants (PAs) are able to write prescriptions in Idaho. The PA’s name should be the name printed on the prescription label. The PAs name should be written as “John...

Published in the August 2008 Ohio State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Physician assistant (PA) prescribing is in full swing. The State Medical Board of Ohio has finalized the rules needed to implement the process, including the formulary. Information on licensing...

Published in the August 2008 Ohio State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The Ohio State Board of Optometry rule that deals with optometrists’ prescribing of controlled substances for pain was due to go before the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review...

Published in the May 2008 Ohio State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The legislature recently revised the optometry laws (HB 149), and the law became effective on March 24, 2008. This bill changed, among other things, the prescribing privileges for optometrists...

Published in the May 2008 Ohio State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Physician assistant (PA) prescribing is here. Many of you have already seen prescriptions issued by PAs and have called the Board office to verify the validity of the prescriptions....

Reprinted from the April 2008 Minnesota Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Minnesota Statutes §151.01, subd. 27 provides a definition of the “practice of pharmacy” that includes: “participation in the practice of managing drug therapy and modifying drug therapy, according to section...

Published in the January 2008 Washington State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter In November 2007 the Department of Health finalized new rules for the practice of naturopathy. The rules allow naturopathic physicians (ND) to prescribe any legend drug except botulinum toxin....

Reprinted from the January 2008 New Jersey Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. There continues to be some confusion regarding telephone authorization for prescription renewals. N.J.A.C. 13:39-7.3 addresses authorization for prescription renewals, and 13:39-7.3(b) states, “When the renewals listed on the original...

Reprinted from the January 2008 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The Board has received numerous inquiries from physician assistants (PA) and nurse practitioners (NP) about Board of Pharmacy Rule .1703, 21 NCAC 46.1703. PAs and NPs have asked whether...

Published in the January 2008 Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Mid-Level Practitioner Update: Physician assistants (PA) may now prescribe for up to a 30-day supply of Schedule III to V if they have a mid-level Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)...

Reprinted from the October 2007 Montana Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The Board receives many calls about the administration and dispensing of methadone and Suboxone® (buprenorphine and naloxone). Methadone may be used for the treatment of pain, and any pharmacy may...

Reprinted from the October 2007 Montana Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) provides information on what can be changed or added to a Schedule II controlled substance prescription by a pharmacist. The majority of changes...

Published in the October 2007 Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Physician Assistant (PA) Law Change: Effective July 1, 2007, the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision amended the rules for PA prescriptive and dispensing authority. Prescriptions for non-controlled...

Published in the August 2007 Indiana Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The next prescription you receive may be from a physician assistant (PA). The new law authorizes a physician to delegate to a PA duties that are within the supervising physician’s...

Published in the August 2007 Ohio State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter At the current time, it appears that physician assistant (PA) prescribing will begin some time this fall. The State Medical Board of Ohio is in the process of finalizing...

Published in the August 2007 Ohio State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The Ohio General Assembly has passed, and the governor has signed, some bills that will have an impact on the practice of pharmacy in Ohio. In addition, the General...

Published in the May 2007 Ohio State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter Last year, the Ohio General Assembly passed Senate Bill 154, which significantly changed the scope of practice for physician assistants (PAs). A major change that will affect pharmacists the...

Published in the April 2007 Washington State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The legislature recently expanded the authority of naturopathic physicians. The law was amended to replace the term “medicines of mineral, animal, and botanical origin” with the term “naturopathic medicines.”...

Reprinted from the April 2007 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Several physicians in North Carolina have complained to the Board about the volume and nature of refill authorization faxes transmitted to their practices. These faxes, examples of which appear...

Reprinted from the April 2007 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The subject of generic substitution seems to arise repeatedly in one form or another. With the emergence of the now infamous “$4 generic” the scenario goes as follows: Your...

Reprinted from the January 2007 New Jersey Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Confusion has arisen regarding “electronic prescriptions” that are printed and given to a patient. Such prescriptions are considered “written” rather than electronic if presented to a pharmacist for dispensing...

Reprinted from the October 2006 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Board staff are frequently asked whether or not, and under what circumstances, a physician may self-prescribe, prescribe for family members, or prescribe after retirement. The North Carolina Medical Board...

Published in the July 2006 South Dakota State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter During the 2006 South Dakota Legislative Session, new language was approved in South Dakota Codified Laws (SDCL) 36-9A-12, 39-9A-13, and 36-4A-22 removing the 48 hour time limit for...

Reprinted from the July 2006 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. On May 4, 2006, the Board’s new regulation regarding when and how a pharmacist may refuse to fill a prescription became effective. Under the new regulation, a pharmacist may...

Reprinted from the July 2006 Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The Board office often receives calls regarding what can be changed on a Schedule II prescription. To clarify, after consulting with the prescribing practitioner (you must speak directly to...

Published in the June 2006 Kentucky Board of Pharmacy Newsletter The Pharmacy Technician Registration Bill (Senate Bill [SB] 110 sponsored by Senator Richard L. Roeding) was passed by a Senate committee and went to the Floor of the Senate, passed...

Reprinted from the April 2006 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. Thanks to Joyce Altsman, state news editor of the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter for allowing us to reprint this article from their February 2006 Newsletter. Pharmacies must...

Reprinted from the April 2006 North Carolina Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. The Board has received several reports of a person calling a pharmacy and having a patient’s controlled substance (CS) prescriptions transferred to a second pharmacy. The caller then picks...

Published in the March 2006 Kansas State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter In Kansas, there is no prohibition against physicians writing prescriptions for themselves or family members, either for controlled or noncontrolled drugs, as long as the physician has an “Active”...