Scope practice for registered pharmacy technician

(a) A registered pharmacy technician shall, under the direct supervision of the licensed pharmacist, perform at a minimum the following: (1) Assist in the dispensing process; (2) Receive new written or electronic prescription drug orders; (3) Compound; (4) Stock medications; (5) Complete a list of a patient’s current prescription and nonprescription medications to provide for medication reconciliation; (6) Supervise registered pharmacy technicians and pharmacy technician trainees; (7) Medical records screening; (8) Administer immunizations, as provided by legislative rule; and (9) Perform pharmacy technician product verification, where no clinical judgment is necessary and the pharmacist makes the final verification; if the registered pharmacy technician furnishes to the Board an affidavit signed and dated by the supervising pharmacist-in-charge of the facility which will employee the applicant attesting to the applicant’s competency in the advanced areas of practice that he or she will practice; and has either: (A) Worked as a full-time registered pharmacy technician holding a pharmacy technician endorsement in West Virginia for at least the previous two years; or (B) Worked as a full-time registered pharmacy technician holding a pharmacy technician license in good standing in another jurisdiction for at least the previous two years. (b) A registered pharmacy technician may perform the following under indirect supervision of a licensed pharmacist: (1) Process medical coverage claims; and (2) Cashier. (c) A registered pharmacy technician may not perform the following: (1) Drug regimen review; (2) Clinical conflict resolution; (3) Contact a prescriber concerning prescription drug order clarification or therapy modification; (4) Patient counseling; (5) Dispense process validation; (6) Prescription transfer; (7) Receive new oral prescription drug orders; (8) An act within the practice of pharmacist care that involves discretion or independent professional judgment; or (9) A function which the registrant has not been trained and the function has not been specified in a written protocol with competency established. (d) Indirect supervision of a registered pharmacy technician is permitted to allow a pharmacist to take one break of no more than 30 minutes during any contiguous eight-hour period. The pharmacist may leave the pharmacy area but may not leave the building during the break. When a pharmacist is on break, a pharmacy technician may continue to prepare prescriptions for the pharmacist(s verification. A prescription may not be delivered until the pharmacist has verified the accuracy of the prescription, and counseling, if required, has been provided to or refused by the patient. (e) A pharmacy that permits indirect supervision of a pharmacy technician during a pharmacist(s break shall have either an interactive voice response system or a voice mail system installed on the pharmacy phone line in order to receive new prescription orders and refill authorizations during the break. (f) The pharmacy shall establish protocols that require a registered pharmacy technician to interrupt the pharmacist’s break if an emergency arises. (g) A registered pharmacy technician who has obtained a nuclear pharmacy technician endorsement, may under the direct supervision of the licensed nuclear pharmacist, perform the following: (1) Assist in the dispensing process; (2) Receive new written or electronic prescription drug orders; (3) Mix compound ingredients for liquid products, suspensions, ointments, mixes, or blend for tablet granulations and capsule powders; (4) Prepare radiopharmaceuticals; (5) Record keeping; (6) File and organize prescriptions; (7) Create reports; (8) Inventory tasks; (9) Handle raw materials and intermediate or finished products; (10) Perform general maintenance as required on pumps, homogenizers, filter presses, tablet compression machines, and other like machines; (11) Perform standard operating procedures to meet current good manufacturing practices (GMP); (12) Maintain records; (13) Monitor and verify quality in accordance with statistical process or other control procedures; and (14) Stock medications. (h) A registered pharmacy technician who has obtained a nuclear pharmacy technician endorsement may not perform the following: (1) Drug regimen review; (2) Clinical conflict resolution; (3) Contact a prescriber concerning prescription drug order clarification or therapy modification; (4) Receive new oral prescription drug orders.