WSR 17-01-146 PERMANENT RULES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission) [Filed December 20, 2016, 5:12 p.m., effective December 31, 2016] Effective Date of Rule: December 31, 2016.
Other Findings Required by Other Provisions of Law as Precondition to Adoption or Effectiveness of Rule: This filing replaces emergency rules expiring on December 31, 2016, that were adopted to address the emergent pharmacy needs of communities facing evacuation from catastrophic events.
Purpose: WAC 246-869-105 Continuity of care refills in proclaimed emergencies, this new rule will allow temporary prescription refills of legend drugs, maintenance medications and certain controlled substances for patients displaced from their homes and usual pharmacy services during an event resulting in a governor's emergency proclamation. When effective, this permanent rule will replace emergency rules filed on August 22, 2016, as WSR 16-17-114.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 18.64.005.
Other Authority: RCW 18.64.500.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 16-16-012 on July 21, 2016.
Changes Other than Editing from Proposed to Adopted Version: The commission made changes to new subsection (1)(a) and (b) after deliberating and taking public comment. The additional language allows a pharmacist to use their professional judgment in making the decision to provide pharmaceutical services to the displaced patient, expands the ability to provide refills when no refills are available and includes maintenance medications.
A final cost-benefit analysis is available by contacting Richard Cieslinski, Department of Health, P.O. Box 47852, Olympia, WA 98504-7852, phone (360) 236-4861, fax (360) 236-4626, email richard.cieslinski@doh.wa.gov.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: September 29, 2016.
Tim Lynch, PharmD, MS, Chair
Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission
NEW SECTION
WAC 246-869-105 Continuity of care refills in proclaimed emergencies.
Notwithstanding WAC 246-869-100 (2)(f), when the governor issues an emergency proclamation for an event which prevents continuity of health care for persons and animals because their prescribed medications are no longer available to them due to the emergency event, pharmacists and pharmacies may provide emergency prescription supplies for medications during the period of the proclaimed emergency as provided below:
(1) An initial supply of up to thirty days of current prescriptions for legend drug (noncontrolled) medications or seven-day supply of current prescriptions for controlled substance medications in Schedules III, IV, and V may be provided to patients under the following conditions:
(a) Presentation of a valid prescription container complete with legible label indicating there are remaining refills, or confirmation of the prescribed medication and available refills by review of the patient's current medical records or pharmacy records or in the professional judgment of the pharmacist; or
(b) If the prescription is expired or has no refills and the pharmacist is unable to readily obtain refill authorization from the prescriber, the pharmacist may dispense a one-time emergency refill of up to a seventy-two hour supply of the prescribed medication as described in WAC 246-869-100 (2)(f) or up to a thirty-day supply of a maintenance medication.
(2) For each medication dispensed under this section, a pharmacist shall:
(a) Document the dispensing as a prescription, noting where the information from subsection (1)(a) of this section was obtained, whether from the prescription container, the patient's prescriber or from the pharmacy records;
(b) Inform the patient's provider and the pharmacy at which the patient obtains his or her medications of the dispensing as soon as possible following the emergency dispensing;
(c) Mark the face of the prescription as an "emergency" prescription.
(3) Nothing in this rule modifies insurers' requirements for coverage and payment for prescribed medications.
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