Innovations in Pharmacist Licensure Mobility Accelerate

Boards of Pharmacy, NABP Continue 114-Year Partnership of Facilitating License Transfer While Keeping Patients Safe

As other professions move to establish mechanisms for license portability such as legislature-approved compacts, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®) and its member licensing boards of pharmacy are enhancing their long-established Electronic Licensure Transfer Program® (e-LTP™), which provides license mobility and portability for pharmacists in all United States jurisdictions. The e-LTP process, which currently allows for same-day processing of licensure transfer requests, will be supplemented with new components to support evolving pharmacy practices while maintaining a high level of public protection and patient access to quality pharmacy care.

“We are truly excited to work with our member boards as we continue to find innovative ways to enhance our existing reciprocity system and support the future of pharmacy practice,” says NABP President Susan Ksiazek, RPh, DPh. NABP’s active member boards of pharmacy include all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and the three US territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Included in the e-LTP process is licensure verification through the NABP Clearinghouse, an essential component of ensuring that pharmacists seeking the authority to practice in multiple states hold a license in good standing.  “The Clearinghouse contains vital disciplinary information that, when combined with NABP’s national database of education, competence, and licensure information, provides the boards of pharmacy with a robust tool as they make licensure transfer decisions,” states Ksiazek. “When protecting patients is foremost in your mind, all of this information is key to determining if a licensure candidate meets the qualifications to practice in your state.”

While the current licensure transfer system offers 100% mobility for pharmacists across all 54 US jurisdictions, accounting for the transfer of more than 164,500 pharmacists’ licenses over the last 10 years, the proposed enhancements to the e-LTP will focus on the rapidly changing practice and regulatory challenges posed by remote practice models and telepharmacy. The member boards of pharmacy and NABP recognize the importance of seeking additional methods of licensure mobility in the e-LTP process to enhance patient access to pharmacists whose licenses have been verified and validated. As such, at the Association’s 114^th Annual Meeting held in May 2018, members passed a resolution supporting NABP’s efforts to expand the e-LTP while maintaining boards of pharmacy jurisdiction to preserve the needed authority to protect the public health.

NABP is the independent, international, and impartial Association that assists its state member boards and jurisdictions for the purpose of protecting the public health.