2009-2010 Bill 3394: Pharmacy Technicians - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 118th Session, 2009-2010 3 4 H. 3394 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Spires, Merrill, Parks, Brantley, Miller, Frye, Bowers, Clyburn, Crawford, Dillard, Edge, 10 Harvin, Herbkersman, Hosey, Jefferson, Knight, Long, Lowe, McLeod, D.C. Smith, J.R. Smith, 11 Williams, Toole and Huggins 12 Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11159ac09.docx 13 14 Introduced in the House on January 29, 2009 15 Currently residing in the House Committee on Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs 16 17 Summary: Pharmacy technicians 18 19 20 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 21 22 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 23 1/29/2009 House Introduced and read first time HJ9 24 1/29/2009 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs HJ9 25 2/3/2009 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Toole 26 5/12/2009 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Huggins 27 28 29 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 30 31 1/29/2009 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTION 404382, AS AMENDED, CODE OF 12 LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE 13 REGISTRATION AND CERTIFICATION OF PHARMACY 14 TECHNICIANS, SO AS TO FURTHER SPECIFY 15 REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS, TO PROVIDE THAT 16 STUDENTS IN A PHARMACY TECHNICIAN PROGRAM 17 ARE REQUIRED TO BE REGISTERED TO BE PLACED IN A 18 PHARMACY FOR PRACTICAL TRAINING, TO PROVIDE 19 THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL TO PERFORM THE FUNCTIONS OF 20 A PHARMACY TECHNICIAN WITHOUT BEING 21 REGISTERED, UNLESS OTHERWISE EXEMPT, TO REVISE 22 THE REQUIREMENTS TO BE CERTIFIED BY THE BOARD 23 OF PHARMACY AS A PHARMACY TECHNICIAN, TO 24 REQUIRE SUCH CERTIFICATION FOR PHARMACY 25 TECHNICIANS ENTERING THE FIELD AFTER JULY 1, 2012, 26 TO FURTHER SPECIFY THESE CERTIFICATION 27 REQUIREMENTS, AND TO EXEMPT FROM THIS 28 CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT TECHNICIANS WHO ARE 29 REGISTERED BEFORE JULY 1, 2012; AND TO AMEND 30 SECTION 404386, AS AMENDED, RELATING, AMONG 31 OTHER THINGS, TO REQUIRING 32 PHARMACISTSINCHARGE TO DEVELOP AND 33 IMPLEMENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES SPECIFYING 34 THE DUTIES OF PHARMACIST TECHNICIANS, SO AS TO 35 CONFORM THESE PROVISIONS TO THE CERTIFICATION 36 REQUIREMENTS OF THIS ACT. 37 38 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 39 Carolina: 40 41 SECTION 1. Section 404382 of the 1976 Code, as last amended 42 by Act 314 of 2002, is further amended to read:

[3394] 2 1 2 “Section 404382. (A)(1) The Board of Pharmacy shall 3 register pharmacy technicians who are performing pharmacy 4 functions under the supervision of a pharmacist. An applicant for 5 registration as a pharmacy technician must be: 6 (a) seventeen years of age or older; 7 (b) a high school graduate or the equivalent. 8 (2) A registration is valid from July one through June 9 thirtieth and is renewable on dates as prescribed by the department 10 with the consent of the board. An application for renewal must be 11 on a board approved form provided by the department and must be 12 submitted and accompanied by an annual fee in an amount 13 established in accordance with Section 40150. A pharmacy 14 technician who has failed to properly renew a registration before 15 July first shall immediately cease practice and refrain from 16 performing any duties as a pharmacy technician. Reinstatement of 17 a registration must be granted upon the board receiving a renewal 18 application and renewal and penalty fees. 19 (3) A pharmacy technician shall display his or her current 20 registration in a conspicuous place in the primary pharmacy or 21 drug outlet in which the technician is employed, so that the current 22 registration is easily and readily observable by the public. A 23 technician working in a pharmacy or drug outlet where the 24 technician’s registration is not posted must have his or her wallet 25 registration card with him or her. 26 (4) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or any 27 other provision of law, a pharmacy technician student who is 28 enrolled in a pharmacy technician training program that is 29 approved by the board may be placed in a pharmacy for the 30 purpose of obtaining practical training, and the pharmacy 31 technician student is required to be registered pursuant to this 32 section. A pharmacy technician student shall wear identification 33 that indicates his or her student status when performing the 34 functions of a pharmacy technician. 35 (5) It is unlawful for a person who is not registered as a 36 pharmacy technician under this chapter, or who is not otherwise 37 exempt from the requirement to register as a pharmacy technician, 38 to perform the functions of a registered pharmacy technician or 39 hold himself or herself out to others as a person who is registered 40 to perform the functions of a registered pharmacy technician in this 41 State. 42 (B)(1) An individual may be certified by the board as a 43 pharmacy technician if the individual has:

[3394] 3 1 (a) worked for fifteen hundred hours under the 2 supervision of a licensed pharmacist as a registered pharmacy 3 technician or has completed a Board of Pharmacy approved 4 pharmacy technician course as provided for in subsection (D); 5 however, beginning July 1, 2004, to be certified as a pharmacy 6 technician an individual must have worked for one thousand hours 7 under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist as a technician and 8 must have completed an American Society of HealthSystem 9 Pharmacists (ASHP) accredited technician program or a Board of 10 Pharmacy approved technician course as provided for in 11 subsection (D); 12 (b) a high school diploma or equivalent; and 13 (c) passed the National Pharmacy Technician 14 Certification Board exam or a Board of Pharmacy approved exam 15 and has maintained current certification; and 16 (d) fulfilled continuing education requirements as 17 provided for in Section 4043130(G). 18 (2)(a) Beginning July 1, 2012, an individual who wishes to 19 work as a pharmacy technician in this State must be certified by 20 the board as a pharmacy technician after completion of one of the 21 following requirements: 22 (i) completion of all the requirements of Section 23 404382(B)(1); 24 (ii) certification in another state as a pharmacy 25 technician if the requirements for certification in that state are 26 equivalent to the requirements of this State; 27 (iii) successful completion of a program for the training 28 of pharmacy technicians by any of the branches of the Armed 29 Forces of the United States; or 30 (iv) attainment and proof of valid current certification 31 by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) or a 32 Board of Pharmacy approved exam if the applicant graduated from 33 a postsecondary school for training pharmacy technicians in 34 another state and that state did not require that its approved schools 35 be accredited by the American Society of HealthSystem 36 Pharmacists (ASHP); and worked for one thousand hours under 37 the supervision of a licensed pharmacist as a pharmacy technician. 38 (b) Before July 1, 2012, an individual who has worked as 39 a pharmacy technician for a minimum of two thousand hours under 40 the supervision of a licensed pharmacist and passed the Pharmacy 41 Technician Certification Board (PTCB) exam or a Board of 42 Pharmacy approved exam and has maintained current certification 43 must be certified by the board as a pharmacy technician.

[3394] 4 1 (c) Notwithstanding any requirements in this chapter, a 2 registered pharmacy technician registered pursuant to this section 3 before July 1, 2012, is exempt from the requirements of this 4 subsection. 5 (3) The pharmacistincharge shall verify compliance with the 6 requirements of item (a) of subsection (B)(1) and maintained a 7 record of this requirement in a readily retrievable manner for 8 inspection. 9 (C) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a 10 supervising pharmacist may authorize a certified pharmacy 11 technician to: 12 (1) receive and initiate verbal telephone orders; 13 (2) conduct one time prescription transfers; 14 (3) check a technician’s refill of medications if the 15 medication is to be administered by a licensed health care 16 professional in an institutional setting; 17 (4) check a technician’s repackaging of medications from 18 bulk to unit dose in an institutional setting. 19 (D) A formal academic pharmacy technician training program 20 that leads to a certificate, diploma, or higher degree accredited by 21 the American Society of HealthSystem Pharmacists (ASHP) or 22 another national accrediting organization may be approved by the 23 board if it includes at a minimum: 24 (1) introduction to pharmacy and health care systems; 25 (2) pharmacy law and ethics; 26 (3) pharmacy calculations; 27 (4) pharmacology; 28 (a) anatomy and physiology; 29 (b) therapeutic agents; 30 (c) prescription drugs; 31 (d) nonprescription drugs; 32 (5) pharmacy operations; 33 (a) drug distribution systems; 34 (b) records management and inventory control; 35 (c) ambulatory and institutional practice; 36 (6) compounding; 37 (a) aseptic technique; 38 (b) nonsterile compounding; 39 (7) general education; 40 (a) medical terminology; 41 (b) interpersonal relations; 42 (c) communications; 43 (d) computers/keyboarding;

[3394] 5 1 (8) problem solving/critical thinking; 2 (9) experiential training (practical experience). 3 (E) A pharmacist whose license has been denied, revoked, 4 suspended, or restricted for disciplinary purposes is not eligible to 5 be registered as a pharmacy technician. 6 (F) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section or any 7 other provision of law or regulation, an individual who works as an 8 unpaid volunteer under the personal supervision of a licensed 9 pharmacist or who handles legend drugs in a pharmacy department 10 of a free medical clinic staffed by a licensed pharmacist may be 11 registered as a pharmacy technician and may perform pharmacy 12 functions as a pharmacy technician without payment of a 13 registration fee or filing with the board; provided, that a register is 14 maintained in the pharmacy department of the free medical clinic 15 bearing the name of every such volunteer performing pharmacy 16 functions as a pharmacy technician and documenting each 17 volunteer’s period of service. This special registration is valid only 18 in the free medical clinic. The register must be kept for a period of 19 three years. For the purposes of this section, ‘free medical clinic’ 20 means a permitted facility that provides medical services, 21 including the dispensing of legend drugs and other medications, 22 free of any charge to members of the public.” 23 24 SECTION 2. Section 404386(B)(4)(b) of the 1976 Code, as last 25 amended by Act 251 of 2004, is further amended to read: 26 27 “(b) The pharmacistincharge shall develop and implement 28 written policies and procedures to specify the duties to be 29 performed by pharmacy technicians. The duties and 30 responsibilities of these personnel shall must be consistent with 31 their training and experience. These policies and procedures shall, 32 at a minimum, specify that pharmacy technicians are to be 33 personally supervised by a licensed pharmacist who has the ability 34 to control and who is responsible for the activities of pharmacy 35 technicians and that pharmacy technicians are not assigned duties 36 that may be performed only by a licensed pharmacist. One 37 pharmacist may not supervise more than three pharmacy 38 technicians at a time; through June 30, 2006, at least one of these 39 three technicians must be statecertified, and after June 30, 2006, at 40 least two of these three technicians must be statecertified, and 41 beginning July 1, 2012, all technicians must comply with the 42 requirements of Section 404382(B)(2). If a pharmacist supervises 43 only one or two pharmacy technicians, these technicians are not

[3394] 6 1 required to be statecertified except beginning July 1, 2012, all 2 technicians must comply with the requirements of Section 3 404382(B)(2). Pharmacy technicians do not include personnel in 4 the prescription area performing only clerical functions, including 5 data entry up to the point of dispensing, as defined in Section 6 404330(14).” 7 8 SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the 9 Governor. 10 XX 11

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