April 2024 Electronic Mailbags
April 4, 2024
- April Webinar on New State Newsletter Program Options and Enhancements
- DEA Second Annual Supply Chain Conference April 30 – May 2, 2024
April 18, 2024
April 25, 2024
April Webinar on New State Newsletter Program Options and Enhancements
On April 24, 2024, from 10-11 AM CDT, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) will host a live webinar, NABP State Newsletter Program: Introduction to New Packages and Options. The webinar will review the three new available package options, which will be implemented beginning July 1, 2024. Current State Newsletter Program participants, as well as boards interested in learning more about the program, are encouraged to attend. The webinar topics include:
- package and à la carte options,
- publication and copy due date cycles,
- board and NABP responsibilities, and
- new resources for participating boards.
To register for the webinar, please visit the webinar page.
Please forward this information to any staff or board members who you think will benefit from attending. If you have any questions about the webinar, please email me at dzak@nabp.pharmacy.
New and continuing board of pharmacy participants will also be invited to the next webinar, Starting Fresh With the State Newsletter Program – Onboarding for New and Continuing Participants, on June 13, 2024, from 11 AM-12 PM CDT.
DEA Second Annual Supply Chain Conference April 30 – May 2, 2024
US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that it will hold its second annual Supply Chain Conference in-person or virtual from April 30 through May 2, 2024, in Little Rock, AR.
Purpose
The conference provides a venue in which representatives from the supply chain industry, their affiliated associations, and DEA can engage in discussions concerning existing federal regulations, issues requiring regulatory changes, clarification of DEA policy, and the development of initiatives to reduce diversion of pharmaceutical controlled substances while ensuring an adequate and uninterrupted supply. You may view the full agenda here: Agenda.
Who
DEA-registered manufacturers, distributors, pharmacists, importers, and exporters.
When
April 30 – May 2, 2024
Where
Little Rock, AR (A virtual component will be offered for those who are unable to attend in person.)
Registration
- Register for In-person Conference (Maximum Capacity: 210 attendees)
- Register for Live Streaming (Maximum Capacity: 3,000 attendees)
Please note: There is no fee to attend this conference. To ensure in-person participation is available to all interested registrants, DEA is requesting that no more than three persons per DEA registration number plan to attend in person. Additional participants are welcome to attend virtually. Participants not registering in advance will not be permitted to attend the conference. In the past, there was confusion as to whether private practice attorneys or consulting firms may or may not attend DEA-sponsored conferences for industry. If these individuals or firms represent registrants or their affiliated associations on an “as-needed basis,” DEA does not view them as employees of a registrant or an association, but as paid consultants. As such, they are not eligible to attend these types of conferences.
Please contact ODLL@dea.gov for additional questions and instructions to register for the event without a DEA number.
Comment Period Open for Draft Guideline to Improve Access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder in Community Pharmacies
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) is collaborating with the University of Houston (UH) College of Pharmacy, the National Community Pharmacists Association, and other stakeholders to create a multiagency, multi-stakeholder evidence-based consensus guideline to advance pharmacists’ willingness to dispense buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). The draft guideline is posted on the NABP website for public comment until May 31, 2024.
The project, “Creation of a Multi-Stakeholder Practice Guideline to Improve Access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder in Community Pharmacies,” is funded by the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts. The central objective of this initiative is to generate consensus- and evidence-based solutions to regulatory and administrative barriers that are unique to the pharmacy profession’s access to buprenorphine supplies and pharmacist’s dispensing of the medication. In addition, the initiative is intended to address gaps in prevailing OUD treatment guidelines from the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
As part of the project, focus groups with pharmacists in three states met in September and October 2023 to identify attitudinal, environmental, and social barriers to buprenorphine dispensing. UH then recruited a panel of 23 experts in addiction medicine, law enforcement, and pharmacy to address pharmacists’ barriers to dispensing through the creation of a consensus practice guideline.
After the close of the public comment period, NABP will convene a panel of 10 to 20 experts who were not involved in the initial guideline creation process for a one-day workshop at NABP Headquarters in Mount Prospect, IL. The panel will review the aggregated comments and discuss potential changes to the guideline document. When finalized later this summer, the guideline will be disseminated nationwide.
Call for Members to Serve on the New Universal Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination Review Committee
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) is seeking individuals to serve on a review committee for the Universal Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (UPJE) that is currently under development. The review committee for the UPJE will drive the examination purpose, scope, and timeline.
The goal of the UPJE in those states that adopt it is for a pharmacist to take one pharmacy jurisprudence exam to demonstrate their competency. Candidates who pass the UPJE would meet the law examination requirement in all states that recognize it and would be eligible to practice in any of those states without taking another law exam. This new examination originated as a result of the NABP membership having approved Resolution 118-3-22 at the 118th NABP Annual Meeting, held in May of 2022; the resolution called for examining the concept of a “National Standardized Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination steering committee.”
The primary purpose of each NABP exam review committee is to review items (test questions) for possible use on NABP exams. Items are developed by volunteer subject matter experts who serve as item writers. Once written, the items are reviewed by review committee members to ensure that they meet certain standards before they are used in exams.
Primary Responsibilities
- Evaluate and make recommendations on item content.
- Participate as an expert resource in committee meetings and conference calls.
- Provide item-pool reviews.
- Serve as a facilitator at item-development workshops (training, mentoring, reviewing, and
evaluating item writers, and reviewing and evaluating items).
UPJE Review Committee Volunteer Criteria
- Ability to view jurisprudence from a national lens instead of a state-level view.
- Available to participate in two multi-day meetings at NABP Headquarters each year.
- Have experience as an exam item writer.
- Demonstrate professionalism, good judgment, and care in adhering to confidentiality obligations
and NABP exam matters.
Applications for the review committee are due by July 1, 2024. Those selected will serve a five year term, and the first meeting will be held in the third quarter of 2024.
Those interested in serving on the UPJE Review Committee should complete the Examination Volunteer Interest Form located on the Meetings page of the NABP website at www.nabp.pharmacy and upload a current résumé or curriculum vitae.
If you have any questions, contact Jasmina Bjegovic via email at jbjegovic@nabp.pharmacy.
Information on Official Transcripts in NABP e-Profile Connect
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) provides official transcripts (education verification) to boards of pharmacy for use in exam eligibility processing.
The North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) and Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination requirement that official transcripts must be verified to complete purchase of the exam if the applicant graduated in or after 2020 has been in place since 2021. As of 2023, the transcript requirement also includes all first-time NAPLEX attempts, regardless of graduation date.
Both NABP and the schools process and verify education using official transcripts. The transcript upload process has been well-received, and over half of United States schools and colleges of pharmacy currently process transcripts directly for their graduates to e-Profile Connect, while NABP receives and processes the other half of new graduates each year. This has allowed for a more secure and standardized option for education verification by NABP and its member boards.
The official transcripts processed by schools and NABP verify the education of an e-Profile holder and are available to the boards of pharmacy the individual applies to. Transcripts can also be viewed for candidates submitting a score transfer to your jurisdiction.
If you are interested in using this resource – please contact transcripts@nabp.pharmacy with any questions or to request a guide on viewing transcripts. The transcripts and education verified status are visible in the eligibility applications and supporting eligibility search pages within NABP e-Profile Connect.