April 2017 News Minnesota Board of Pharmacy

1 MN Vol. 38, No. 3 Page 1 University Park Plaza 2829 University Ave SE, Suite 530 Minneapolis, MN 2017 Published to promote compliance of Pharmacy and drug lawNewsMinnesotaBoard of Pharmacycontinued on page 4 Disciplinary ActionsBecause of space limitations, information on disciplinary actions is no longer being included in the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy Newsletter. A document that provides information about recent Board disciplinary actions can be found on the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy website under the Resources/FAQs menu Dayton Makes Appointments to BoardOn January 4, 2017, Governor Mark Dayton announced the reappointment of Rabih Nahas and Andy Behm to the Board . Mr Nahas was first appointed to the Board on February 12, 2013. Mr Nahas, of Orono, MN, is a licensed pharmacist with over 27 years of experience in hospital Pharmacy . He is currently a clinical pharmacist at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, MN.

2 He earned his bachelor of science degree in Pharmacy from Drake Behm, of Edina, MN, was first appointed to a newly created pharmacist member position on January 15, 2016. Because of the need to stagger the terms of Board members, the first term for his position was set by the governor to expire in January 2017. Dr Behm received his doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Minnesota in 2000 and has practiced in community, hospital, managed care, hospice/home care, and long-term care settings. He completed a residency in geriatric Pharmacy at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System and is a certified geriatric practitioner. He has worked for Express Scripts since 2001, where he currently serves as vice president in the Office of Clinical Evaluation and and Facsimile PrescriptionsAt its March 15, 2017 meeting, the Board addressed theissue of prescriptions that begin as true electronic prescrip-tions but that are ultimately converted and sent to a phar-macy as a facsimile.

3 Minnesota Statutes requires prescribers and dispensers to use the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT Standard for the communication of a prescription or prescription-related information. A true electronic prescription involves use of that standard to transmit prescription data through an intermedi-ary, an e-prescribing network that acts like a switch to route the prescription to the correct Pharmacy . The transmission of prescriptions by facsimile does not meet that standard, not even when the prescription is generated within an electronic medi-cal record (EMR) system and then transmitted by facsimile directly to a Pharmacy s fax machine. Consequently, most prescriptions transmitted by facsimile are not true electronic Statutes , Subdivision 16a defines the word prescription and includes the following language (emphasis added): A prescription written or printed on paper that is given to the patient or an agent of the patient or that is transmitted by fax must contain the practitioner s manual signature.

4 An electronic prescription must contain the practitioner s electronic signature. Normally, most prescrip-tions received by facsimile must be manually signed by the prescriber (ie, there must be a pen-to-paper signature) before they are faxed. A notation on a paper or facsimile prescription such as electronically signed by the prescriber is not a valid signature, and the prescription is not legally valid unless it is also manually signed. This is true even if the facsimile prescription was generated from within an EMR. Normally, a prescription generated within an EMR must either be: 1) electronically signed and transmitted as a true e-prescriptionthrough an intermediary network; 2) printed out on paper,manually signed, and given to the patient; or 3) printed out onpaper, manually signed, and faxed to the , the intention of the prescriber is to generate a prescription within an EMR and transmit it as a true e-prescription.

5 However, if the intermediary is unable tocomplete the transmission of the prescription to the Pharmacy ,it may convert the intended e-prescription into a facsimileand send that to the Pharmacy instead. In that case, thefacsimile is electronically signed, not manually signed. It isthis situation that the Board discussed at its March 15, 2017meeting. In the past, when this situation occurred, pharmacistshad to call prescribers (because, as mentioned above, faxedISMP list of high-alert medications. Many of the items included represent system improvements and safeguards that ISMP has recommended in response to analysis of medication errors reported to the ISMP Medication Errors Reporting Program, problems identified during on-site consultations with health care organizations, and guidelines in medical self-assessment is divided into 10 key elements that most significantly influence safe medication use. Each element is defined by one or more core characteristics of a safe Pharmacy system that further define a safe medication use system.)

6 Each core characteristic contains individual self-assessment items to help evaluate success with achieving each core recommends that each Pharmacy site convene its own team of staff members (ie, pharmacist(s), technician(s), and stu-dent pharmacist(s)) to complete this comprehensive assessment and use the information as part of its ongoing safety and quality improvement efforts. An online form has been provided to help participants organize and score their responses. Important: The self-assessment should be completed in its entirety by staff and managers who work within the Pharmacy , not by off-site managers on behalf of the the self-assessment is completed, respondents can gen-erate reports showing how their Pharmacy answered each item and how they scored on each as a percentage of the maximum possible score. The Pharmacy can then use its scores to identify and prioritize opportunities for its safety plan of action. ISMP is not a regulatory or standards-setting organization.

7 As such, the self-assessment characteristics represent ideal practices and are not purported to represent a minimum standard of prac-tice. Some of the self-assessment criteria represent innovative practices and system enhancements that are not widely available in pharmacies today. However, the value of these practices in reducing errors is grounded in expert analysis of medication errors, scientific research, or strong evidence of their ability to reduce view, download, and print the PDF of the assessment, which includes the introduction, instructions for use, self-assessment items, and definitions, visit Publishes Resource to Foster Use of JCPP Pharmacists Patient Care ProcessA publication intended to encourage the use of the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) Pharmacists Patient Care Process was released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s (CDC s) Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention.

8 In Using the Pharmacists Patient Care Process to Manage High Blood Pressure: A Resource Guide for Pharmacists, CDC calls on pharmacists and other health care providers to implement the Pharmacists Patient Care Process model to reduce heart disease and stroke in the United States. Pharmacists can have a positive effect on population health by providing patient care services and participating in collaborative practice agreements and continuing education (CE) programs, notes the CDC publication. The publication is available at Page 2 DEA Changes Registration Renewal ProcessAs of January 2017, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will no longer send its second renewal notification by mail. Instead, an electronic reminder to renew will be sent to the email address associated with the DEA registration. In addition, DEA will retain its current policy and procedures with respect to renewal and reinstatement of registration. The policy is described below.

9 If a renewal application is submitted in a timely mannerprior to expiration, the registrant may continue operations,authorized by the registration, beyond the expiration dateuntil final action is taken on the application. DEA allows the reinstatement of an expired registration forone calendar month after the expiration date. If the registrationis not renewed within that calendar month, an application for a new DEA registration will be required. Regardless of whether a registration is reinstated within thecalendar month after expiration, federal law prohibits thehandling of controlled substances or List 1 chemicals for any period of time under an expired information is available on the DEA website at www . Medication Safety Self Assessment for Community/Ambulatory PharmacyThis column was prepared by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). ISMP is an independent nonprofit agency and federally certified patient safety organization that analyzes medication errors, near misses, and potentially hazardous conditions as reported by pharmacists and other practitioners.

10 ISMP then makes appropriate contacts with companies and regulators, gathers expert opinion about prevention measures, and publishes its recommendations. To read about the risk reduction strategies that you can put into practice today, subscribe to ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Community/Ambulatory Care Edition by visiting ISMP provides legal protection and confidentiality for submitted patient safety data and error reports. Help others by reporting actual and potential medication errors to the ISMP National Medication Errors Reporting Program Report online at Email: in community and ambulatory settings can now access a newly revised tool that will help them review and improve their medication safety practices. The 2017 Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Medication Safety Self Assessment for Community/Ambulatory Pharmacy is designed to help pharma-cies evaluate their current systems, proactively identify opportuni-ties for improvement, and track their efforts over advisory panel of experts helped ISMP update items from the 2001 community/ambulatory self-assessment as well as add items to address new practices and processes, including the pharmacist s evolving role in immunization administration.