E-Prescribing Mandate Among New Resolutions at the NABP Meeting

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) adopted several resolutions at its Annual Meeting held in Denver.

One of the resolutions addressed mandating that all prescriptions be transmitted electronically. The resolution calls for collaborating with stakeholders including the DEA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and electronic prescribing experts to examine the feasibility of such a mandate.

Other resolutions included:

• Communicating to state legislative and regulatory authorities the Model State Pharmacy Act and Model Rules of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy language about implementing and regulating technology to allow for the appropriate use, innovation, and safeguards that address security and patient safety. The model provides state boards the language they can use to develop new state laws or rules.

• Encouraging United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) and/or other stakeholders to develop educational information concerning USP Chapter <800> and the appropriate handling of these types of materials to be provided to the patient or caregiver. Chapter <800> concerns safe handling of hazardous drugs in healthcare settings.

• Convening an interdisciplinary task force that will explore considerations for transitioning from strictly prescriptive rule-based regulations to a model that includes a standard of care process, and discussing the necessary tools (for example, peer review committees, enforcement approaches) for boards of pharmacy to make this transition.

Developing an interstate registration system to provide for pharmacists’ participation in interstate dispensing models while maintaining boards of pharmacy jurisdiction to initiate possible administrative proceedings to protect the public health.