Connecticut 2022 2022 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00186 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 04/19/2022

                     
 
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General Assembly  Substitute Bill No. 186  
February Session, 2022 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING COLLABORATIVE DRUG THERAPY 
MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS AND POLICIES.  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Section 20-631 of the 2022 supplement to the general 1 
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2 
(Effective from passage): 3 
(a) For the purposes of this section: 4 
(1) "Care-giving institution" has the same meaning as provided in 5 
section 20-571; 6 
(2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer 7 
Protection; 8 
(3) "Collaborative drug therapy care plan" means a written document 9 
memorializing the outcome of the process through which a patient and 10 
one or more health care providers discuss, review and agree on an 11 
approach to achieve the patient's desired health outcome; 12 
(4) "Collaborative drug therapy management agreement" means an 13 
agreement between one or more qualified pharmacists and one or more 14 
prescribing practitioners to manage the drug therapy of individual 15 
patients, or a patient population, based on a written protocol or a 16 
collaborative drug therapy care plan; 17  Substitute Bill No. 186 
 
 
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(5) "Collaborative drug therapy management policy" means a written 18 
policy adopted by a care-giving institution under which one or more 19 
qualified pharmacists manage the drug therapy of individual patients, 20 
or a patient population, based on a written protocol or a collaborative 21 
drug therapy care plan; 22 
(6) "Pharmacist" has the same meaning as provided in section 20-571; 23 
(7) "Prescribing practitioner" has the same meaning as provided in 24 
section 20-571; 25 
(8) "Provider-patient relationship" means a relationship between a 26 
prescribing practitioner and a patient in which (A) the patient has made 27 
a medical complaint, (B) the patient has provided such patient's medical 28 
history, (C) the patient has received a physical examination, and (D) 29 
there exists a logical connection between such medical complaint, 30 
medical history and physical examination and any drug prescribed for 31 
such patient; and 32 
(9) "Qualified pharmacist" means a pharmacist who (A) is deemed 33 
competent under regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to 34 
subsection (e) of this section, and (B) has reviewed the latest edition of 35 
the "Pharmacists' Patient Care Process" published by the Joint 36 
Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners. 37 
[(a)] (b) Except as provided in section 20-631b, one or more qualified 38 
pharmacists [licensed under this chapter who are determined 39 
competent in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to 40 
subsection (d) of this section] may enter into a [written protocol-based] 41 
collaborative drug therapy management agreement [with one or more 42 
physicians licensed under chapter 370 or advanced practice registered 43 
nurses licensed under chapter 378 to] or manage the drug therapy of 44 
individual patients, or a patient population, under a collaborative drug 45 
therapy management policy. In order to enter into a [written protocol-46 
based] collaborative drug therapy management agreement [, such 47 
physician or advanced practice registered nurse shall have established] 48  Substitute Bill No. 186 
 
 
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or collaborative drug therapy care plan, or operate under a collaborative 49 
drug therapy management policy, a prescribing practitioner must first 50 
establish a provider-patient relationship with the patient or patients 51 
who will receive collaborative drug therapy. Each patient's collaborative 52 
drug therapy management shall be [governed by a written protocol 53 
which may include guideline-directed management established by the 54 
treating physician or advanced practice registered nurse in consultation 55 
with the pharmacist. For purposes of this subsection, a "provider-patient 56 
relationship" is a relationship based on (1) the patient making a medical 57 
complaint, (2) the patient providing a medical history, (3) the patient 58 
receiving a physical examination, and (4) a logical connection existing 59 
between the medical complaint, the medical history, the physical 60 
examination and any drug prescribed for the patient] based on a 61 
diagnosis made by such patient's prescribing practitioner or a specific 62 
test set forth in a collaborative drug therapy management agreement or 63 
collaborative drug therapy management policy. 64 
[(b)] (c) A collaborative drug therapy management agreement or 65 
collaborative drug therapy management policy may authorize a 66 
[pharmacist to implement] qualified pharmacist or qualified 67 
pharmacists to initiate, modify, continue, discontinue or deprescribe a 68 
drug therapy that has been prescribed for a patient, order associated 69 
laboratory tests and administer drugs, all in accordance with a patient-70 
specific or patient population-specific written protocol [. Such 71 
agreement] or collaborative drug therapy care plan, but may not 72 
authorize a qualified pharmacist or qualified pharmacists to establish a 73 
port to administer parenteral drugs. A collaborative drug therapy 74 
management agreement or collaborative drug therapy management 75 
policy may specifically address issues that may arise during a 76 
medication reconciliation and concerns related to polypharmacy that 77 
enable an authorized qualified pharmacist or qualified pharmacists to 78 
[implement] initiate, modify, continue, discontinue or deprescribe drug 79 
therapy. In instances where drug therapy is discontinued or 80 
deprescribed, the qualified pharmacist or qualified pharmacists shall 81 
notify the [treating physician or advanced practice registered nurse] 82  Substitute Bill No. 186 
 
 
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prescribing practitioner of such discontinuance or deprescribing [no] 83 
not later than twenty-four hours [from the time of such discontinuance 84 
or deprescribing] after such drug therapy is discontinued or 85 
deprescribed. Each written protocol or collaborative drug therapy care 86 
plan developed, pursuant to [the] a collaborative drug therapy 87 
management agreement or collaborative drug therapy management 88 
policy, shall contain detailed direction concerning the actions that the 89 
qualified pharmacist or qualified pharmacists may perform for [that] the 90 
patient [. The] or patient population. Such written protocol or 91 
collaborative drug therapy care plan shall include, but need not be 92 
limited to, (1) the specific drug or drugs, therapeutic class of drug or 93 
classes of drugs, or medical devices to be managed by the qualified 94 
pharmacist or qualified pharmacists, (2) the terms and conditions under 95 
which drug therapy may be [implemented] initiated, modified, 96 
continued, discontinued or deprescribed, (3) the conditions and events 97 
upon which the qualified pharmacist is, or qualified pharmacists are, 98 
required to notify the [physician or advanced practice registered nurse, 99 
and] prescribing practitioner, (4) the laboratory tests that may be 100 
ordered, and (5) a definition of the patient population included in such 101 
written protocol or collaborative drug therapy care plan. All activities 102 
performed by the qualified pharmacist or qualified pharmacists in 103 
conjunction with the protocol shall be documented in the patient's 104 
medical record [. The pharmacist shall report any encounters within the 105 
scope of the collaborative drug therapy management agreement within 106 
thirty days to the physician or advanced practice registered nurse 107 
regarding the patient's drug therapy management or document such 108 
information within a shared medical record. The] in accordance with all 109 
applicable care-giving institution policies. Each collaborative drug 110 
therapy management agreement, [and protocols] collaborative drug 111 
therapy management policy, written protocol and collaborative drug 112 
therapy care plan shall be available for inspection by the [Departments] 113 
Department of Consumer Protection and the Department of Public 114 
Health. [and Consumer Protection.] A copy of the protocol shall be filed 115 
in the patient's medical record. 116  Substitute Bill No. 186 
 
 
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[(c)] (d) A pharmacist shall be responsible for demonstrating, in 117 
accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to subsection [(d)] (e) of 118 
this section, the competence necessary for [participation] the pharmacist 119 
to participate in each collaborative drug therapy management 120 
agreement, [into which such pharmacist enters] collaborative drug 121 
therapy management policy and collaborative drug therapy care plan in 122 
which such pharmacist seeks to participate by, among other things, 123 
demonstrating that such pharmacist has reviewed the latest edition of 124 
the "Pharmacists' Patient Care Process" published by the Joint 125 
Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners. 126 
[(d)] (e) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection, in consultation 127 
with the Commissioner of Public Health, shall (1) adopt regulations, in 128 
accordance with chapter 54, concerning competency requirements for 129 
participation in a [written protocol-based] collaborative drug therapy 130 
management agreement, [described in subsection (a) of this section,] the 131 
minimum content of the collaborative drug therapy management 132 
agreement [and the written protocol] and such other matters said 133 
commissioners deem necessary to carry out the purpose of this section, 134 
and (2) on or after the effective date of this section, amend such 135 
regulations to include competency requirements for participation in a 136 
collaborative drug therapy management policy or collaborative drug 137 
therapy care plan and the minimum content of collaborative drug 138 
therapy management policies, collaborative drug therapy care plans 139 
and written protocols governing collaborative drug therapy 140 
management. 141 
Sec. 2. Section 19a-521d of the general statutes is repealed and the 142 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 143 
A medical director of a nursing home facility, as defined in section 144 
19a-521, may establish protocols for a prescription drug formulary 145 
system in accordance with guidelines established by the American 146 
Society of Health-System Pharmacists and any applicable collaborative 147 
drug therapy management agreement or collaborative drug therapy 148 
management policy, as [described] defined in section 20-631, as 149  Substitute Bill No. 186 
 
 
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amended by this act. The medical director of a nursing home facility that 150 
implements a prescription drug formulary system may make a 151 
substitution for a drug prescribed to a patient of the facility in 152 
accordance with the provisions of this section. Prior to making any 153 
substitution for a drug prescribed to a patient of the facility in 154 
accordance with the facility's protocols, the medical director, or the 155 
medical director's designee, shall notify the prescribing practitioner of 156 
the medical director's intention to make such substitution. If the 157 
prescribing practitioner does not authorize the medical director or the 158 
medical director's designee to make such substitution or objects to such 159 
substitution, the medical director, or the medical director's designee, 160 
shall not make the substitution. Notwithstanding the provisions of this 161 
section, a facility, when administering prescription drugs to a patient 162 
who receives benefits under a medical assistance program administered 163 
by the Department of Social Services, shall consider and administer 164 
prescription drugs to such patient in accordance with (1) the 165 
department's preferred drug list, developed in accordance with section 166 
17b-274d, (2) prescription drug formularies under Medicare Part D, or 167 
(3) the patient's health insurance policy, as the medical director of the 168 
nursing home facility deems appropriate. 169 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 from passage 20-631 
Sec. 2 from passage 19a-521d 
 
 
GL Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO  
APP Joint Favorable