ASSEMBLY, No STATE OF NEW JERSEY. 211th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 9, 2004

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1 ASSEMBLY, No. STATE OF NEW JERSEY th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED FEBRUARY, 00 Sponsored by: Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN District 0 (Union) SYNOPSIS Provides for registration, certification and training of pharmacy technicians. CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced.

2 A CRYAN AN ACT concerning pharmacy technicians and amending and supplementing chapter of Title of the Revised Statutes. BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:. (New section) a. The State Board of Pharmacy shall register pharmacy technicians who are performing pharmacy functions under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. b. Registration shall be valid from July through June 0th of each year and shall be renewable on dates as prescribed by the board. An application for renewal shall be filed on a form approved and provided by the board and shall be submitted to the board accompanied by an annual fee in an amount specified by the board. A pharmacy technician who fails to properly renew a registration before July shall immediately cease practice and refrain from performing any duties as a pharmacy technician. Reinstatement of a registration shall be granted upon the board receiving a renewal application accompanied by renewal and penalty fees, in an amount specified by the board. c. A pharmacy technician shall display his current registration in a conspicuous place in the primary pharmacy in which the technician is employed, so that the current registration is easily and readily observable by the public. A technician working in a pharmacy in which the technician's registration is not displayed shall carry his wallet registration card on his person.. (New section) a. A person may be certified by the State Board of Pharmacy as a certified pharmacy technician if the person has: () worked for,00 hours under the supervision of a registered pharmacist as a registered pharmacy technician or has completed a pharmacy technician training program approved by the board, as provided for in section of this act, except that beginning July, 00, to be certified as a pharmacy technician a person shall have worked for,000 hours under the supervision of a registered pharmacist as a registered pharmacy technician and shall have completed a technician training program approved by the board as provided for in section of this act. () a high school diploma or its equivalent; () passed the national Pharmacy Technician Certification Board exam or an exam approved by the State Board of Pharmacy and has maintained current certification; and () fulfilled continuing education requirements as provided by the State Board of Pharmacy. EXPLANATION - Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and intended to be omitted in the law. Matter underlined thus is new matter.

3 A CRYAN b. The pharmacist who is in charge of a pharmacy shall verify compliance with the requirements of paragraph () of subsection a. of this section and shall maintain a record of the requirements for compliance in a readily retrievable manner for inspection.. (New section) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a supervising pharmacist may authorize a certified pharmacy technician to: a. receive and initiate verbal telephone orders; b. conduct one-time prescription transfers; c. check a registered pharmacy technician's refill of medications if the medication is to be administered by a licensed health care professional in an institutional setting; and d. check a registered pharmacy technician's repackaging of medications from bulk to unit dose in an institutional setting.. (New section) A formal academic pharmacy technician training program that leads to a certificate, diploma or higher degree may be approved by the State Board of Pharmacy if it includes, at a minimum: a. introduction to pharmacy and health care systems; b. pharmacy law and ethics; c. pharmacy calculations; d. pharmacology, including anatomy and physiology, therapeutic agents, prescription drugs and nonprescription drugs; e. pharmacy operations, including drug distribution systems, records management and inventory control and ambulatory and institutional practice; f. compounding, including aseptic technique and nonsterile compounding; g. general education, including medical terminology, interpersonal relations, communications and computer and keyboard training; h. problem solving and critical thinking; and i. experiential training or practical experience.. (New section) A pharmacist whose certificate of registration as a pharmacist has been denied, revoked or suspended, pursuant to section of P.L., c. (C.:-) or R.S. :-, shall not be eligible to be registered as a pharmacy technician.. R S. :- is amended to read as follows: :-. The board shall elect a president, a secretary who may or may not be a member of the board, and a treasurer, and may make by-laws and rules for the proper fulfillment of its duties under this chapter. It shall meet on the third Thursday of January, April, July and October, in the city of Trenton, and at such other times and places as may be required. It shall examine into all applications for registration,

4 A CRYAN and grant certificates of registration to all persons whom it shall judge on examination to be properly qualified to practice pharmacy. The examination shall include the subjects of materia medica, pharmacy, chemistry and toxicology. It shall keep a book of registration in which shall be entered the names and places of business of all persons registered under this chapter, and also a book of record of all its official transactions, which books shall be legal evidence of such transactions in any court of law. It may examine into all cases of alleged violations of this chapter and shall cause the prosecution of all persons not complying therewith; and it shall annually report to the governor and to the New Jersey Pharmaceutical Association, the New Jersey Council of Chain Drug Stores, the Garden State Pharmacy Owners Association, and the New Jersey Society of Hospital Pharmacists, on or before the first day of November in each year, upon the condition of pharmacy in the state, which report shall embrace a detailed statement of the receipts and expenditures of the board. The board shall provide or approve, as appropriate, of such pharmacy technician examinations, training programs and continuing education requirements as it deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of P.L., c. (C. )(pending before the Legislature as this bill). (cf: P.L., c., s.). (New section) The State Board of Pharmacy, pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, P.L., c. (C.:B- et seq.) shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.. This act shall take effect on the 0th day after enactment. STATEMENT This bill requires the State Board of Pharmacy to register pharmacy technicians who are performing pharmacy functions under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. Under the provisions of the bill, registration would be valid from July through June 0th of each year and would be renewable on dates as prescribed by the board. An application for renewal would be filed on a form approved and provided by the board and would be submitted to the board accompanied by an annual fee in an amount specified by the board. A pharmacy technician who fails to properly renew a registration before July is required to immediately cease practice and refrain from performing any duties as a pharmacy technician. Reinstatement would be granted upon the board receiving a renewal application accompanied by renewal and penalty fees, in an amount specified by the board.

5 A CRYAN The bill also requires a pharmacy technician to display his current registration in a conspicuous place in the primary pharmacy in which the technician is employed, so that the current registration is easily and readily observable by the public. A technician working in a pharmacy in which the technician's registration is not displayed would be required to carry his wallet registration card on his person. A person may be certified by the board as a certified pharmacy technician if the person has: -- worked for,00 hundred hours under the supervision of a registered pharmacist as a registered pharmacy technician or has completed a pharmacy technician training program approved by the State Board of Pharmacy, except that beginning July, 00, to be certified as a certified pharmacy technician a person must have worked for,000 thousand hours under the supervision of a registered pharmacist as a registered pharmacy technician and also must have completed a technician training program approved by the board. -- a high school diploma or its equivalent; -- passed the national Pharmacy Technician Certification Board exam or an exam approved by the State Board of Pharmacy and has maintained current certification; and -- fulfilled continuing education requirements as may be provided by the State Board of Pharmacy. The pharmacist who is in charge of a pharmacy would verify compliance with these requirements and maintain a record of the requirements for compliance in a readily retrievable manner for inspection. The bill also provides that a supervising pharmacist may authorize a certified pharmacy technician to: -- receive and initiate verbal telephone orders; -- conduct one-time prescription transfers; -- check a technician's refill of medications if the medication is to be administered by a licensed health care professional in an institutional setting; and -- check a technician's repackaging of medications from bulk to unit dose in an institutional setting. The bill stipulates the requirements for a formal academic pharmacy technician training program which would lead to a certificate, diploma or higher degree. The State Board of Pharmacy may approve a training program if it includes, at a minimum: -- introduction to pharmacy and health care systems; -- pharmacy law and ethics; -- pharmacy calculations; -- pharmacology, including anatomy and physiology, therapeutic agents, prescription drugs and nonprescription drugs;

6 A CRYAN -- pharmacy operations, including drug distribution systems; records management and inventory control and ambulatory and institutional practice; -- compounding, including aseptic technique and nonsterile compounding; -- general education, including medical terminology, interpersonal relations, communications and computer and keyboard training; -- problem solving and critical thinking; and -- experiential training or practical experience. If a pharmacist's certificate of registration as a pharmacist has been denied, revoked or suspended pursuant to N.J.S.A.:- or N.J.S.A. :-, that pharmacist would not be eligible to register as a pharmacy technician. The bill is similar to a South Carolina law on pharmacy technicians and has a delayed effective date to allow time for the State Board of Pharmacy to adopt rules.