The New York State Education Department and the State Board of Pharmacy are pleased to provide you with guidance to support sound practice and provide for greater public protection.
The New York State Education Department and the State Board of Pharmacy are pleased to provide you with guidance to support sound practice and provide for greater public protection.
Yes. Any establishment that routinely ships or delivers prescription drugs to professionals or patients in New York State must register with the Education Department through the State Board of Pharmacy. This includes manufacturers and wholesalers of drugs and registered pharmacies.
Yes, when transactions are isolated, the registration requirement may be waived. Regulations define isolated transactions as fewer than 600 prescriptions per year for pharmacies or sales that total less than $10,000 at wholesale, per calendar year. The Board of Pharmacy may also waive the registration requirement in an emergency.
Yes. You can search for manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies by name or registration number on our Web site. You can search for establishments located within New York State as well as those located elsewhere. You can also verify that a pharmacy establishment is registered by calling 518-474-3817.
Please notify the Office of the State Board of Pharmacy by phone at 518-474-3817 ext. 130 or by e-mail at pharmbd@nysed.gov.
Answer: Yes, the Department, in conjunction with the New York State Board of Pharmacy, has the following guidance with respect to pharmacists providing such services.
Please note that this guidance memorandum is not intended to supersede relevant laws, rules or regulations. Further, we recognize that professional judgment is often based upon specific sets of facts that require a particular analysis and cannot be answered with general guidance. Nonetheless, it is important that we share the information that forms the basis of our general analysis.
Pharmacists have a professional responsibility to ensure that their patients obtain properly ordered and therapeutically appropriate medications in a timely manner with appropriate counseling from a pharmacist. Licensees have a responsibility to practice competently and to protect against abandoning or neglecting a patient in need of immediate care without making adequate arrangements. Additionally, it is professional misconduct to be found to have refused to provide professional services based upon a person's race, creed, color or national origin. When a pharmacist recognizes that their religious, moral or ethical belief, or any other factor, will result in the refusal to fill a prescription that is otherwise available in a pharmacy, the pharmacist has a professional obligation to take appropriate steps to avoid the possibility of abandoning or neglecting a patient.
When a pharmacist begins practice in a professional setting, they should take steps that may include notifying the owner and supervising pharmacist if their beliefs will limit the drug products they will dispense. If a pharmacy employs a pharmacist that has identified circumstances that would preclude the filling of prescriptions for particular products, the owner and supervising pharmacist should devise, within reason, accommodations that will respect the pharmacist's choice while assuring delivery of services to patients in need. This may include special attention to scheduling of professionals to allow a pharmacist who has a religious, moral or ethical objection to practice simultaneously with another pharmacist who will fill the requested prescription, entering into collaborative arrangements with pharmacies in close proximity, or other accommodations designed to protect the public.
Where a pharmacist has a religious, moral or ethical objection to filling a prescription, they should not interfere with another pharmacist responding to the professional needs of a patient. The pharmacist should refrain from engaging in non-health related judgmental or confrontational activities with the patient. Please remember that verbal abuse or other harassment of a patient will constitute unprofessional conduct for professionals under existing rules and regulations. We hope this information is helpful. If you have questions or concerns regarding this or any pharmacy practice matter, please feel free to contact the Pharmacy Board Office directly at Pharmbd@nysed.gov.
A pharmacist or pharmacy intern provide patient education (counseling):
Yes. Registered pharmacies that conduct business through the mail or by common carrier must include written notification that counseling is available and provide a toll-free number where the pharmacist or pharmacy intern can be readily reached. A pharmacist or pharmacy intern must be available to provide counseling.
If the pharmacist or pharmacy intern determines that there are potential drug therapy problems that could endanger the health of the patient, including but not limited to: therapeutic duplication, drug-drug interactions and drug-allergy interactions, the patient must be contacted prior to filling the prescription. Alternatively, the pharmacist or pharmacy intern may contact the prescriber and obtain permission to dispense an alternative drug.
If a prescriber gives approval for the dispensing of an alternative drug, the pharmacist must include a notice of the change with the order and make two documented attempts to telephone and inform the patient of the change within 48 hours of mailing or delivery. A telephone call is not required for generic substitution.
Yes. An to provide counseling must be made every time a patient has a prescription re-filled or has a prescription filled for a medication therapy that has been re-authorized by a prescriber. Any member of the pharmacy staff can make the offer to counsel on behalf of a pharmacist, including pharmacy interns, clerks, registered pharmacy technicians, etc. If a patient requests to be counseled, a pharmacist or pharmacy intern must be available to provide counseling.
If prescription drugs have been ordered through a registered pharmacy by mail or on the Web, the pharmacist must provide the patient with a written offer to counsel and a toll-free number where the pharmacist or pharmacy intern can be readily reached.
A pharmacist or pharmacy intern should use his/her professional judgment when deciding what to discuss with a patient during counseling. Depending on the situation, you may choose to discuss items such as the following:
Pharmacists, pharmacy interns and all health care practitioners are required to provide patient education in a confidential manner.
Yes, but you must document the patient's decision to decline or refuse counseling in your pharmacy's records.
The Education Department and the Board of Pharmacy appreciate the vital role pharmacists play in the health care system. Counseling provides an opportunity for pharmacists to provide consumers with information necessary to comply with medication regimens or avoid potentially harmful interactions. Good patient counseling also helps to reduce prescription and medication errors. The Department will enforce this provision by incorporating observation of counseling in our routine inspections of pharmacies. We will also review counseling procedures whenever a prescription error is brought to our attention.
Yes. Up to four unlicensed persons may assist a pharmacist with filling prescriptions. Staff involved in other duties not directly related to the filling of prescriptions are NOT counted in the 4:1 ratio.
The drug retail price list List is list of the 150 most frequently prescribed drugs, in the most common quantities. The list of 150 drugs is updated annually by the State Board of Pharmacy and posted on the Department's website.
The State Education Department will post the drug retail price list on its website for pharmacies to download and print paper copies for their establishment to utilize.
Yes. Every pharmacy that sells drugs at retail must make drug retail price lists available with prices of the 150 most frequently prescribed drugs. The pharmacy must also display a sign in bold, block letters at least one inch in height that states "Drug Retail Price List Available Upon Request." Consumers may request a computer-generated list to take with them when they leave the pharmacy.
Pharmacies offering to dispense prescription drugs to consumers in New York State through the Internet are required to post a notice of availability of the drug retail price list and a toll-free number to obtain the list on your Web site. Pharmacies offering to dispense prescription drugs to consumers in New York State through mail order are required to include a printed notice with each delivery of a prescription drug informing the consumer of the availability of the list and a toll-free telephone number to obtain it.
You must update the list at least weekly.
Yes, but you are not required to do so.
Yes. During each three-year registration period, you must complete at least three hours of formal continuing education on strategies and techniques to reduce medication and prescription errors.
No. Coursework on reducing medication and prescription errors can be applied to the 45 hours of continuing education each pharmacist must complete every three years.
No. You can take either "live" or "home study" courses.
Prescriptions that are completed but have not been dispensed to patients may safely be returned to inventory following an assessment and eligibility determination by a pharmacist. For example, reconstituted antibiotic suspensions have a limited shelf life and are likely not eligible to be returned to inventory for re-dispensing.
Yes. A pharmacist may handwrite the required information on the label, as long as the label includes sufficient details for proper identification and safety. This information should include:
Please contact the State Board of Pharmacy by phone at (518) 474-3817 ext. 130; fax at (518) 473-6995; or by e-mail at pharmbd@nysed.gov.