Iowa Board of Pharmacy Rules Regarding Pharmacy Benefit Managers

Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Today, more than 210 million Americans nationwide receive drug benefits administered by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). It is estimated that there are fewer than 100 major
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PBM companies in the United States. The Iowa Board of Pharmacy office routinely receives numerous questions about the activities of PBMs. In Iowa, PBMs are regulated by the Iowa Department of Commerce, Insurance Division. Current law resides in Iowa Code, Chapter 510B and administrative rules are located in 191 Iowa Administrative Code, Chapter 59. The law and rules have been in effect since 2007-2008. A copy of Iowa law and rules for PBMs is included as an insert to this issue of the Newsletter. PBMs are required to obtain the approval of the prescribing practitioner prior to request- ing any drug substitution under Iowa Code §510B.6. A PBM may not substitute an equivalent prescription drug contrary to a prescription drug order that prohibits a substitution. PBMs are required to develop an internal system to record and report complaints. These requirements are contained in 191 I.A.C. 59.5(1). The Iowa Insurance Division has drafted some specific instructions for pharmacists who wish to file a complaint against a PBM, which are available online at www .iid.state.ia.us/file_a_complaint. PBMs are required to submit a summary of all complaints filed against them with the Iowa commissioner of insurance on a quarterly basis. Forty-eight PBMs are listed in the online directory of the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute at www.pbmi.com/pbmdir.asp. None of these companies are located in Iowa. In 2012, the five largest PBMs in the US were Express Scripts of St Louis, MO; CVS Caremark of Scottsdale, AZ; Prime Therapeutics of Eagan, MN; OptumRx of Irvine, CA; and Catamaran of Lisle, IL.

quoted from Iowa Board of Pharmacy September 2013 Newsletter

Kudos!! New Mexico Board of Pharmacy Law Updates Provided from now until End of Year

Law Update Reminder
In 2013, the Board has been offering two law updates each month in the Albuquerque, NM, area. Both updates are avail- able on the same Friday. One update is offered from 9 am to 11 am. The other update is offered from 2 pm to 4 pm. To reserve a space, contact Jessica Chavez-Lance at 505/222-9830 or Jessica .Chavez-Lanc@state.nm.us.
♦ Law Update Schedule (Albuquerque) ◊ September 13, 2013
◊ October 25, 2013
◊ November 15, 2013
◊ December 20, 2013
♦ Law Update Schedule (around state)
These law updates are scheduled for 7 pm to 9 pm. ◊ September 10, 2013 – Clovis, NM
◊ September 17, 2013 – Farmington, NM
◊ September 24, 2013 – Taos, NM
◊ October 29, 2013 – Hobbs, NM
◊ November 19, 2013 – Las Cruces, NM
The New Mexico Society of Health-System Pharmacists (NMSHP) will host a law update on Sunday, October 6, 2013. Please contact NMSHP for information and to reserve a spot. 

New Mexico Pharmacy Statute Change Relating to dangerous drugs

Statutory Change
During the 2013 legislative session, the statute 26-1-16.J. NMSA was revised. The revised statute says that a pharmacist may dispense a quantity not to exceed a 90-day supply of a dangerous drug by combining valid fills. The prescription must not state an indication specifically prohibiting a combined fill. And also, the medication cannot be a CS.

quoted from New Mexico Board of Pharmacy September 2013 Newsletter 

New Mexico Board of Pharmacy Disciplinary Action 2013

Disciplinary Actions
Anastacia Barka, PT – License PT-1727. Respondent voluntarily surrendered her registration as a pharmacy technician (PT). Must pay investigative costs in the amount of $500.
James Gaynor, RPh – License RP-4407. Respondent entered into a stipulated agreement with the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy. Respondent pled no contest to Board allegations that he filled a personal prescription for alprazolam. Must pay investigative and fine costs in the amount of $750.
Daniel Hall, RPh – License RP-6813. Respondent voluntarily surrendered his registration as a pharmacist. Must pay inves- tigative and fine costs in the amount of $1,362.
Madana Harvey, DDS – License CS-216894. Respondent volun- tarily surrendered her controlled substance (CS) registration. Must pay investigative costs of $100.
Kelly Kemper, RPh – License RP-5290. The Board found by a preponderance of the evidence that respondent Kelly Kemper unlawfully obtained a CS. Pharmacist license was revoked for a period of three years. May reapply after three years. Within 90 days, must pay investigation and Board costs of $1,121.17.
Lillian Lovato, RPh – License RP-6262. New Mexico Monitored Treatment Program (MTP) reported to the Board that respon- dent had violated terms of her contract. The Board suspended respondent from the practice of pharmacy until her successful completion of MTP contract.

North Dakota Board of Pharmacy Quality-Related Events – Errors and Continuous Quality Improvement

By Howard C. Anderson, Jr, RPh
The Board, at its July 18, 2013 meeting, voted to move ahead with a rule to require a continuous quality improvement (CQI) program in all North Dakota pharmacies.
The Board already has a requirement in all of its telepharma- cies, central sites, its hospitals, and for sterile product preparation.
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Many states have mandated reporting of errors that cause mortality or significant morbidity. The North Dakota Board feels this is too late in the process, as harm has already occurred.
It is the intent of the new requirement to focus on quality- related events (QREs), which are the precursors of errors (those that get out of the pharmacy’s hands and put the patient at risk).
The rule will require recording of QREs and analysis of them to identify places where changes can be made to prevent errors from occurring. Errors are also reported and serious analysis (gap analysis) is conducted to determine why we have a gap between our expected outcome (a perfect prescription or more importantly, a good patient outcome) and what actually occurred (an error of some kind resulting in a poor patient outcome).
The rule will include discovery protection (a lawyer cannot ask for your CQI report so he or she can find potential clients or reveal that you had six near misses to bolster his or her case before the judge or jury).
The rule will include a reference to reporting to a patient safety organization (PSO) to provide federal protection under the 2005 Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act.
The North Dakota Pharmacists Association has a co-marketing agreement with a PSO and an excellent online CQI program. The Board will also have manual QRE recording forms on its Web site should you not choose to utilize an online CQI program. The Board will ask you to analyze your internally recorded QREs in lieu of the computer-assisted analysis.
Look for the rule hearing announcement, and of course the proposed rule will be published. 

quoted from the North Dakota Board of Pharmacy September 2013 Newsletter