Definition of Pharmacist as a Health Care Provider (Resolution 118-1-22)

RESOLUTION NO: 118-1-22
TITLE: Definition of Pharmacist as a Health Care Provider
ACTION: PASS

WHEREAS, a pharmacist’s evolution of practice has significantly expanded over the years, particularly during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, to include a variety of direct patient care activities; and

WHEREAS, pharmacists play an integral role as part of a patient’s health care team, and as such, many states have amended laws and regulations to recognize pharmacists as health care providers; and

WHEREAS, professional pharmacy organizations have collaborated with legislators to introduce bills that would enable pharmacists, acting as health care providers, to obtain reimbursement for professional pharmacy services rendered; and

WHEREAS, other health care providers are defined by law and such definitions include their scope of practice, but the definition of pharmacist as a health care provider is not clear, standardized, nor universally well recognized; and

WHEREAS, a definition of pharmacist as a health care provider has never been adopted by the Model State Pharmacy Act and Model Rules of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (Model Act);

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that NABP convene a task force that includes appropriate stakeholders to examine this issue and recommend amending, if necessary, the Model Act to include a foundational definition of pharmacists as health care providers.

(Resolution passed at the 118^th Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ.)