TITLE 30: PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS

PART 3001: MISSISSIPPI PHARMACY PRACTICE REGULATIONS

ARTICLE XL PHARMACY TECHNICIANS

1. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN REGISTRATION.

Every person who acts or serves as a pharmacy technician must obtain a pharmacy technician registration from the Board in compliance with Mississippi Code Annotated Section 73-21- 111. In addition to the requirements of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 73-21-111, an applicant for pharmacy technician shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age and be a high school graduate or hold a GED equivalent. No pharmacist whose license has been denied, revoked, suspended, or restricted for disciplinary reasons shall be eligible to be registered as a pharmacy technician.

2. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN REGISTRATION RENEWAL.

Each pharmacy technician shall renew his/her registration annually pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 73-21-111. A pharmacy technician registration that has not been renewed by March 31 of each year shall become inactive and the pharmacy technician shall not perform any pharmacy technician duties until the registration is renewed. Pharmacy technician registrations that are renewed after March 31 of the renewal period shall be charged a Fifty Dollar ($50) late renewal fee.

3. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN RESPONSIBILITIES AND GUIDELINES.

A. In order to adequately protect the public health, pharmacy technicians shall not:

a. Communicate, orally or in writing, any medical, therapeutic, clinical, or drug information or communicate any information recorded on a patient profile that requires professional judgment.

b. Accept by oral communication a new prescription of any nature.

c. Prepare a copy of a prescription or read a prescription to another person.

d. Provide a prescription or medication to a patient without a pharmacist's verification as to the accuracy of the dispensed medication. For the purposes of this regulation, verification shall mean that the licensed pharmacist shall be aware of the patient's medication profile, Drug Utilization Review, computer overrides, and drug interactions as well as the accuracy of the selected medication and labeling.

e. Counsel a patient on medications or perform a drug utilization review.

f. Perform any task that requires the professional judgment of a pharmacist.

g. Perform any task that is in violation of any federal or state pharmacy or drug laws.

B. Persons registered with the Board as a pharmacy technician may perform approved tasks under the direct supervision of a registered pharmacist as follows: a. Packing, pouring or placing in a container for dispensing, sale, distribution, transfer possession of, vending, or barter any drug, medicine, poison, or chemical which, under the laws of the United States or the State of Mississippi, may be sold or dispensed only on the prescription of a practitioner authorized by law to prescribe drugs, medicines, poisons, or chemicals. This shall also include the adding of water for reconstitution of oral antibiotic liquids.

b. Affixing required labels upon any container of drugs, medicines, poisons, or chemicals sold or dispensed upon prescription of a practitioner authorized by law to prescribe those drugs, medicines, poisons, or chemicals.

c. Taking from and replacing upon shelves in the prescription department of a pharmacy, drugs, medicines, chemicals, or poisons which are required by the law of the United States or the State of Mississippi to be sold or dispensed only on prescription of a practitioner authorized by law to prescribe them.

d. Entering information into the pharmacy computer. The pharmacy technician shall not make any judgmental decisions, which could affect patient care. The final verification of prescription information entered into the computer shall be made by the supervising pharmacist who is then totally responsible for all aspects of the data and data entry.

e. Obtaining prescriber authorization for prescription refills provided that nothing about the prescription is changed.

f. Prepackaging and labeling of multi-dose and unit-dose packages of medication. The pharmacist must establish the procedures, including selection of containers, labels and lot numbers, and must check the finished task.

g. Dose picking for unit dose cart fill for a hospital or for a nursing home patient.

h. Checking and inspecting nursing units in a hospital or nursing home: Pharmacy technicians may check nursing units for proper medication storage and other related floor stock medication issues. Any related medication storage problems or concerns shall be documented and initialed by a pharmacist.

i. Recording patient or medication information in electronic systems for later validation by the pharmacist.

j. Bulk reconstitution of prefabricated non-injectable medication.

k. Bulk compounding. This category may include such items as sterile bulk solutions for small volume injectables, sterile irrigating solutions, products prepared in relatively large volume for internal or external use by patients, and reagents or other products for the pharmacy or other departments of a hospital.

l. Preparation of parenteral products as follows: The pharmacy technician must follow guidelines established by the pharmacist by policy and procedures. Pharmacy technicians may perform functions involving reconstitution of single or multiple dosage units that are to be administered to a given patient as a unit. Pharmacy technicians may perform functions involving the addition of one manufacturer's single dose or multiple unit doses of the same product to another manufacturer's prepared unit to be administered to a patient. The supervising pharmacist must verify the accuracy in all instances.

m. Pharmacy Technicians in an institutional setting may conduct patient medication histories without the direct supervision of a pharmacist. The institution must have policies and procedures and training protocols to govern such tasks.

C. Every person acting or serving as a pharmacy technician shall wear a name tag, while on duty, identifying him or her as a pharmacy technician. When communicating by telephone, the pharmacy technician shall promptly identify himself or herself as a pharmacy technician.

D. Each pharmacy technician registered by the Board shall be responsible to maintain current information in the Board's licensing system. Each pharmacy technician shall update any change of employment or change of residential address within ten (10) days of the change occurring. If the pharmacy technician becomes unemployed, the pharmacy technician shall update the employment status to unemployed within ten (10) days of becoming unemployed. Failure to update information changes in the Board's licensing system may result in disciplinary action by the Board.

4. RESPONSIBILITY OF SUPERVISING PHARMACIST AND PHARMACIST-IN- CHARGE. A. It is the responsibility of the supervising pharmacist on duty to require that all pharmacy technicians under his/her supervision comply with this Article.

B. It is the responsibility of the pharmacist-in-charge to ensure that all pharmacy technicians performing pharmacy technician duties have valid pharmacy technician registrations.

C. It is the responsibility of the pharmacist-in-charge to ensure that the technician is certified, has completed an accredited training program, or provides a training program for a pharmacy technician that includes pharmacy terminology, pharmacy calculations, dispensing systems and labeling requirements, pharmacy laws and regulations, record keeping and documentation, proper handling and storage of medications, pharmaceutical diversion awareness, and medication safety.

D. A pharmacist may not supervise more than three (3) pharmacy technicians during a given time. Any pharmacist that supervises more than three (3) pharmacy technicians during a given time is subject to disciplinary action by the Board. Support personnel used solely for clerical duties such as filing prescriptions and general record keeping need not be included in the pharmacist to pharmacy technician supervision ratio.