Pharmacist Prescribing: Statewide Protocols and More
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Looking for something specific? Click a topic below to jump to that section:
- The Continuum of Pharmacist Prescriptive Authority
- Independent Prescribing (including statewide protocols)
- Advocacy Tools
- Support for Pharmacist Prescribing and Decreasing Scope Restrictions
- Pharmacist Prescribing Publications
- Category-Specific Resources
Continuum of Pharmacist Prescriptive Authority
Across the U.S. states are recognizing the value of authorizing pharmacists to prescribe in order to increase access to important medications. This authority exists somewhere along a continuum and is either dependent (delegated through a collaborative practice agreement) or independent (authority comes directly from the state, no delegation required) authority.
To learn more about the continuum of pharmacist prescriptive authority, check out this article in The Annals of Pharmacotherapy.
To learn more about Collaborative Practice Authority, click here.
Independent Prescribing (including statewide protocols)
The term statewide protocol refers to a framework that specifies the conditions under which pharmacists are authorized to prescribe a specified medication or category of medications when providing a clinical service.
Statewide protocols are issued by an authorized state body pursuant to relevant state laws and regulations. Each protocol specifies the qualifications required for pharmacists to implement the protocol and the procedure(s) that must be followed.
Generally, statewide protocols address identified public health problems and are used for patient care needs that do not require a new diagnosis or for which a documented diagnosis is known or readily available.
Policy Recommendations
The Statewide Protocol Workgroup, convened by the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, has developed policy recommendations for pharmacist statewide protocols. These recommendations include the key elements that should be included in state laws and regulations authorizing the development of statewide protocols – including the components that should be included in the protocol itself.
Advocacy Tools
Sample legislation, objection handler, current authority, and 2018 proposed legislation.
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Support for Pharmacist Prescribing and Decreasing Scope Restrictions
It’s not just pharmacists who think it makes sense to expand pharmacy scope of practice restrictions and allow pharmacists to prescribe. Click below to see some of the many examples supporting the concept.
Pharmacist Prescribing Publications
Please let us know of other publications we should add to this collection.
- The continuum of pharmacist prescriptive authority (Pharmacotherapy, 2016)
- Stakeholders’ views and experiences of pharmacist prescribing: a systematic review (BJCP, 2018)
- FAQs (frequent asinine questions) on pharmacists’ scope of practice (CPJ, 2018)
- Pharmacist prescribing: An overnight success, decades in the making (JAPhA, 2018)
Category-Specific Resources
Linked below are resources focused on a specific category of medications that pharmacists prescribe.
Tobacco Cessation Hormonal Contraceptives Strep and Flu Naloxone