West Virginia Code 30-5-12 – Scope practice for registered pharmacy technician
(a) A registered pharmacy technician shall, under the direct supervision of the licensed pharmacist, perform at a minimum the following:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 30-5-12
- Administer: means the direct application of a drug to the body of a patient or research subject by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Board: means the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- dispensing: means the interpretation, evaluation, and implementation of a prescription drug order, including the preparation, verification, and delivery of a drug or device to a patient or patient's agent in a suitable container appropriately labeled for subsequent administration to, or use by, a patient. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Drug: means :
(A) Articles recognized as drugs by the United States Food and Drug Administration, or in any official compendium, or supplement. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Drug regimen review: includes , but is not limited to, the following activities:
(A) Evaluation of the prescription drug orders and if available, patient records for:
(i) Known allergies. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Manufacturing: means the production, preparation, propagation, or processing of a drug or device, either directly or indirectly, by extraction from substances of natural origin or independently by means of chemical or biological synthesis and includes any packaging or repackaging of the substance or substances or labeling or relabeling of its contents and the promotion and marketing of the drugs or devices. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Patient counseling: means the communication by the pharmacist of information, as prescribed further in the rules of the board, to the patient to improve therapy by aiding in the proper use of drugs and devices. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Pharmacist: means an individual currently licensed by this state to engage in the practice of pharmacist care. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Pharmacist Care: means the provision by a pharmacist of patient care activities, with or without the dispensing of drugs or devices, intended to achieve outcomes related to the cure or prevention of a disease, elimination, or reduction of a patient's symptoms, or arresting or slowing of a disease process and as provided for in section ten. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Pharmacist-in-charge: means a pharmacist currently licensed in this state who accepts responsibility for the operation of a pharmacy in conformance with all laws and legislative rules pertinent to the practice of pharmacist care and the distribution of drugs and who is personally in full charge of the pharmacy and pharmacy personnel. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Pharmacy: means any place within this state where drugs are dispensed and pharmacist care is provided and any place outside of this state where drugs are dispensed and pharmacist care is provided to residents of this state. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Pharmacy Technician: means a person registered with the board to practice certain tasks related to the practice of pharmacist care as permitted by the board. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
- Prescription drug: means any human drug required by federal law or regulation to be dispensed only by prescription, including finished dosage forms and active ingredients subject to section 503(b) of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. See West Virginia Code 30-5-4
(1) Assist in the dispensing process;
(2) Receive new written or electronic prescription drug orders;
(3) Compound;
(4) Stock medications;
(5) Complete a list of a patient’s current prescription and nonprescription medications to provide for medication reconciliation;
(6) Supervise registered pharmacy technicians and pharmacy technician trainees;
(7) Medical records screening;
(8) Administer immunizations, as provided by legislative rule; and
(9) Perform pharmacy technician product verification, where no clinical judgment is necessary and the pharmacist makes the final verification; if the registered pharmacy technician furnishes to the Board an affidavit signed and dated by the supervising pharmacist-in-charge of the facility which will employee the applicant attesting to the applicant’s competency in the advanced areas of practice that he or she will practice; and has either:
(A) Worked as a full-time registered pharmacy technician holding a pharmacy technician endorsement in West Virginia for at least the previous two years; or
(B) Worked as a full-time registered pharmacy technician holding a pharmacy technician license in good standing in another jurisdiction for at least the previous two years.
(b) A registered pharmacy technician may perform the following under indirect supervision of a licensed pharmacist:
(1) Process medical coverage claims; and
(2) Cashier.
(c) A registered pharmacy technician may not perform the following:
(1) Drug regimen review;
(2) Clinical conflict resolution;
(3) Contact a prescriber concerning prescription drug order clarification or therapy modification;
(4) Patient counseling;
(5) Dispense process validation;
(6) Prescription transfer;
(7) Receive new oral prescription drug orders;
(8) An act within the practice of pharmacist care that involves discretion or independent professional judgment; or
(9) A function which the registrant has not been trained and the function has not been specified in a written protocol with competency established.
(d) Indirect supervision of a registered pharmacy technician is permitted to allow a pharmacist to take one break of no more than 30 minutes during any contiguous eight-hour period. The pharmacist may leave the pharmacy area but may not leave the building during the break. When a pharmacist is on break, a pharmacy technician may continue to prepare prescriptions for the pharmacist(s verification. A prescription may not be delivered until the pharmacist has verified the accuracy of the prescription, and counseling, if required, has been provided to or refused by the patient.
(e) A pharmacy that permits indirect supervision of a pharmacy technician during a pharmacist(s break shall have either an interactive voice response system or a voice mail system installed on the pharmacy phone line in order to receive new prescription orders and refill authorizations during the break.
(f) The pharmacy shall establish protocols that require a registered pharmacy technician to interrupt the pharmacist’s break if an emergency arises.
(g) A registered pharmacy technician who has obtained a nuclear pharmacy technician endorsement, may under the direct supervision of the licensed nuclear pharmacist, perform the following:
(1) Assist in the dispensing process;
(2) Receive new written or electronic prescription drug orders;
(3) Mix compound ingredients for liquid products, suspensions, ointments, mixes, or blend for tablet granulations and capsule powders;
(4) Prepare radiopharmaceuticals;
(5) Record keeping;
(6) File and organize prescriptions;
(7) Create reports;
(8) Inventory tasks;
(9) Handle raw materials and intermediate or finished products;
(10) Perform general maintenance as required on pumps, homogenizers, filter presses, tablet compression machines, and other like machines;
(11) Perform standard operating procedures to meet current good manufacturing practices (GMP);
(12) Maintain records;
(13) Monitor and verify quality in accordance with statistical process or other control procedures; and
(14) Stock medications.
(h) A registered pharmacy technician who has obtained a nuclear pharmacy technician endorsement may not perform the following:
(1) Drug regimen review;
(2) Clinical conflict resolution;
(3) Contact a prescriber concerning prescription drug order clarification or therapy modification;
(4) Receive new oral prescription drug orders.