Florida Senate - 2016                                     SB 692
       
       
        
       By Senator Grimsley
       
       
       
       
       
       21-00569-16                                            2016692__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the practice of pharmacy; providing
    3         a short title; amending s. 465.003, F.S.; revising a
    4         definition; amending s. 465.0125, F.S.; providing
    5         duties and responsibilities of a consultant pharmacist
    6         and a doctor of pharmacy; providing for payment or
    7         reimbursement for a pharmacist’s patient care services
    8         separate and apart from payment or reimbursement for
    9         prescription medications; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Access to
   14  Pharmacist Services Act.”
   15         Section 2. Subsection (13) of section 465.003, Florida
   16  Statutes, is amended to read:
   17         465.003 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
   18         (13) “Practice of the profession of pharmacy” includes
   19  compounding, dispensing, and consulting concerning contents,
   20  therapeutic values, and uses of any medicinal drug; consulting
   21  concerning therapeutic values and interactions of patent, or
   22  proprietary, or other preparations and products; health and
   23  wellness assessments; patient care related to medication therapy
   24  management, whether pursuant to prescriptions or in the absence
   25  and entirely independent of such prescriptions or orders; and
   26  other pharmaceutical services provided by the pharmacist. For
   27  purposes of this subsection, “other pharmaceutical services”
   28  means managing and the monitoring of the patient’s drug therapy
   29  and assisting the patient in the management of his or her drug
   30  therapy, and includes reviewing review of the patient’s drug
   31  therapy and collaborating communication with the patient’s other
   32  prescribing health care providers who are provider as licensed
   33  under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 461, or chapter 466, or
   34  a similar statutory provision in another jurisdiction, or such
   35  provider’s agent or such other persons as specifically
   36  authorized by the patient, regarding the patient’s drug therapy
   37  and health care status. However, nothing in this subsection may
   38  not be interpreted to permit an alteration of a prescriber’s
   39  directions, the diagnosis or treatment of any disease, the
   40  initiation of any drug therapy, the practice of medicine, or the
   41  practice of osteopathic medicine, unless otherwise permitted by
   42  law. “Practice of the profession of pharmacy” also includes any
   43  other act, service, operation, research, or transaction
   44  incidental to, or forming a part of, any of the foregoing acts,
   45  requiring, involving, or employing the science or art of any
   46  branch of the pharmaceutical profession, study, or training, and
   47  shall expressly permit a pharmacist to transmit information from
   48  persons authorized to prescribe medicinal drugs to their
   49  patients. The practice of the profession of pharmacy also
   50  includes the dispensing and administration of medications,
   51  including vaccines, to adults pursuant to s. 465.189.
   52         Section 3. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 465.0125,
   53  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   54         465.0125 Consultant pharmacist license; application,
   55  renewal, fees; responsibilities; rules.—
   56         (1) The department shall issue or renew a consultant
   57  pharmacist license upon receipt of an initial or renewal
   58  application that which conforms to the requirements for
   59  consultant pharmacist initial licensure or renewal as
   60  promulgated by the board by rule and a fee set by the board not
   61  to exceed $250. A The consultant pharmacist is shall be
   62  responsible for maintaining all drug, patient care, and quality
   63  assurance records required by law and for establishing drug
   64  handling drug handling procedures for the safe handling and
   65  storage of drugs. A consultant pharmacist or doctor of pharmacy
   66  who is licensed in this state may perform medication management
   67  services, patient health and wellness assessments, counseling
   68  and referral services related to medications, and other health
   69  care services as provided in this section and the standards of
   70  practice adopted by board rule pursuant to s. 465.0155. A The
   71  consultant pharmacist or doctor of pharmacy licensed as a health
   72  care provider in this state may also order and evaluate be
   73  responsible for ordering and evaluating any laboratory,
   74  diagnostic, or clinical testing when, in the judgment of the
   75  consultant pharmacist or doctor of pharmacy, such activity is
   76  necessary for the proper performance of his or her the
   77  consultant pharmacist’s responsibilities. A consultant
   78  pharmacist or doctor of pharmacy licensed in this state may
   79  initiate, modify, discontinue, or administer drugs within the
   80  context of a drug therapy management order or protocol in
   81  collaboration with one or more health care providers. Such
   82  laboratory or clinical testing may be ordered only with regard
   83  to patients residing in a nursing home facility, and then only
   84  when authorized by the medical director of the nursing home
   85  facility. The consultant pharmacist or doctor of pharmacy must
   86  have completed such additional training and demonstrate such
   87  additional qualifications related to in the practice of
   88  institutional, community, or other pharmacy practice settings
   89  pharmacy as shall be required by the board in addition to
   90  licensure as a registered pharmacist.
   91         (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), a
   92  consultant pharmacist or a doctor of pharmacy licensed in this
   93  state may also order and evaluate be responsible for ordering
   94  and evaluating any laboratory, diagnostic, or clinical testing
   95  for persons under the care of a licensed home health agency
   96  when, in the judgment of the consultant pharmacist or doctor of
   97  pharmacy, such activity is necessary for the proper performance
   98  of his or her responsibilities and only when authorized by a
   99  practitioner licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter
  100  461, or chapter 466. In order for the consultant pharmacist or
  101  doctor of pharmacy to qualify and accept this authority, he or
  102  she must receive 3 hours of continuing education relating to
  103  medical records and laboratory, diagnostic, and clinical testing
  104  as established by the board.
  105         Section 4. A health maintenance organization, an insurance
  106  company, or a health benefit plan may provide payment or
  107  reimbursement of the costs associated with a pharmacist’s
  108  provision of patient care services separate and apart from
  109  payment or reimbursement of the costs of prescription
  110  medications without regard to provisions of the patient’s health
  111  benefit coverage when the services provided are within the
  112  pharmacist’s lawful scope of practice.
  113         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.