4729.39 Consult agreement with physicians.
4729.39 Consult agreement with physicians.
(A) A pharmacist may enter into a consult agreement with a physician authorized under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery. Under a consult agreement, a pharmacist is authorized to manage an individual’s drug therapy, but only to the extent specified in the agreement, this section, and the rules adopted under this section.
(B) All of the following apply to a consult agreement that authorizes a pharmacist to manage the drug therapy of an individual who is not a patient of a hospital, as defined in section 3727.01 of the Revised Code, or a resident in a long-term care facility, as defined in section 3729.01 of the Revised Code:
(1) A separate consult agreement must be entered into for each individual whose drug therapy is to be managed by a pharmacist. A consult agreement applies only to the particular diagnosis for which a physician prescribed an individual’s drug therapy. If a different diagnosis is made for the individual, the pharmacist and physician must enter into a new or additional consult agreement.
(2) Management of an individual’s drug therapy by a pharmacist under a consult agreement may include monitoring and modifying a prescription that has been issued for the individual. Except as provided in section 4729.38 of the Revised Code for the selection of generically equivalent drugs, management of an individual’s drug therapy by a pharmacist under a consult agreement shall not include dispensing a drug that has not been prescribed by the physician.
(3) Each consult agreement shall be in writing, except that a consult agreement may be entered into verbally if it is immediately reduced to writing.
(4) A physician entering into a consult agreement shall specify in the agreement the extent to which the pharmacist is authorized to manage the drug therapy of the individual specified in the agreement.
(5) A physician entering into a consult agreement may specify one other physician who has agreed to serve as an alternate physician in the event that the primary physician is unavailable to consult directly with the pharmacist. The pharmacist may specify one other pharmacist who has agreed to serve as an alternate pharmacist in the event that the primary pharmacist is unavailable to consult directly with the physician.
(6) A consult agreement may not be implemented until it has been signed by the primary pharmacist, the primary physician, and the individual whose drug therapy will be managed or another person who has the authority to provide consent to treatment on behalf of the individual. Once the agreement is signed by all required parties, the physician shall include in the individual’s medical record the fact that a consult agreement has been entered into with a pharmacist.
(7) Prior to commencing any action to manage an individual’s drug therapy under a consult agreement, the pharmacist shall make reasonable attempts to contact and confer with the physician who entered into the consult agreement with the pharmacist. A pharmacist may commence an action to manage an individual’s drug therapy prior to conferring with the physician or the physician’s alternate, but shall immediately cease the action that was commenced if the pharmacist has not conferred with either physician within forty-eight hours. A pharmacist acting under a consult agreement shall maintain a record of each action taken to manage an individual’s drug therapy. The pharmacist shall send to the individual’s physician a written report of all actions taken to manage the individual’s drug therapy at intervals the physician shall specify when entering into the agreement. The physician shall include the pharmacist’s report in the medical records the physician maintains for the individual.
(8) A consult agreement may be terminated by either the pharmacist or physician who entered into the agreement. By withdrawing consent, the individual whose drug therapy is being managed or the individual who consented to the treatment on behalf of the individual may terminate a consult agreement. The pharmacist or physician who receives the individual’s withdrawal of consent shall provide written notice to the opposite party. A pharmacist or physician who terminates a consult agreement shall provide written notice to the opposite party and to the individual who consented to treatment under the agreement. The termination of a consult agreement shall be recorded by the pharmacist and physician in the records they maintain on the individual being treated.
(9) Except as described in division (B)(5) of this section, the authority of a pharmacist to manage an individual’s drug therapy under a consult agreement does not permit the pharmacist to manage drug therapy prescribed by any other physician.
(C) All of the following apply to a consult agreement that authorizes a pharmacist to manage the drug therapy of an individual who is a patient of a hospital, as defined in section 3727.01 of the Revised Code, or a resident in a long-term care facility, as defined in section 3729.01 of the Revised Code:
(1) Before a consult agreement may be entered into and implemented, a hospital or long-term care facility shall adopt a policy for consult agreements. For any period of time during which a pharmacist or physician acting under a consult agreement is not physically present and available at the hospital or facility, the policy shall require that another pharmacist and physician be available at the hospital or facility.
(2) The consult agreement shall be made in writing and shall comply with the hospital’s or facility’s policy on consult agreements.
(3) The content of the consult agreement shall be communicated to the individual whose drug therapy will be managed in a manner consistent with the hospital’s or facility’s policy on consult agreements.
(4) A pharmacist acting under a consult agreement shall maintain in the individual’s medical record a record of each action taken under the agreement.
(5) Communication between a pharmacist and physician acting under the consult agreement shall take place at regular intervals specified by the primary physician acting under the agreement.
(6) A consult agreement may be terminated by the individual, a person authorized to act on behalf of the individual, the primary physician acting under the agreement, or the primary pharmacist acting under the agreement. When a consult agreement is terminated, all parties to the agreement shall be notified and the termination shall be recorded in the individual’s medical record.
(7) The authority of a pharmacist acting under a consult agreement does not permit the pharmacist to act under the agreement in a hospital long-term care facility at which the pharmacist is not authorized to practice.
(D) The state board of pharmacy, in consultation with the state medical board, shall adopt rules to be followed by pharmacists, and the state medical board, in consultation with the state board of pharmacy, shall adopt rules to be followed by physicians, that establish standards and procedures for entering into a consult agreement and managing an individual’s drug therapy under a consult agreement. The boards shall specify in the rules any categories of drugs or types of diseases for which a consult agreement may not be established. Either board may adopt any other rules it considers necessary for the implementation and administration of this section. All rules adopted under this division shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
Effective Date: 02-12-2001