Iowa Admin. Code r. 657-3.21 - [Rescinded effective 7/16/2025] Delegation of functions
(1)
Policies
and procedures. Pursuant to established policies and procedures and
the supervising pharmacist's professional judgment, an Iowa-licensed
supervising pharmacist may delegate any technical or nontechnical functions in
the operation of the pharmacy, except those which are prohibited pursuant to
rule 657-3.23 (155A), to an
appropriately trained and Iowa-registered pharmacy technician.
(2)
Remote supervision. A
supervising pharmacist may delegate technical functions relating to
prescription processing (e.g., data entry) to a certified pharmacy technician
who is performing the delegated functions at a location that is not a licensed
pharmacy only if the following conditions are met:
a. Adequate security and supervision are
maintained at all times to prevent unauthorized access to, and unauthorized
storage/transfer of, confidential patient information or patient
records;
b. The supervising
pharmacist has real-time access to the prescription processing system which the
certified pharmacy technician is using or the patient record which the
certified pharmacy technician is processing;
c. The supervising pharmacist is available to
respond to certified pharmacy technician questions via a real-time
communication mechanism at all times when delegated functions are being
performed; and
d. The pharmacy's
prescription processing system is capable of documenting the functions
performed by the certified pharmacy technician.
(3)
Pharmacist final verification
required. Except as provided for an approved technician product
verification program pursuant to 657-Chapter 40, the pharmacist shall provide
and document the final verification for the accuracy, validity, completeness,
and appropriateness of the patient's prescription or medication order prior to
the delivery of the medication to the patient or the patient's
representative.
(4)
Further
delegation prohibited. A pharmacy technician shall not delegate
technical functions to a pharmacy support person.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
(1) Policies and procedures. Pursuant to established policies and procedures and the supervising pharmacist 's professional judgment, an Iowa-licensed supervising pharmacist may delegate any technical or nontechnical functions in the operation of the pharmacy, except those which are prohibited pursuant to rule 657-3.23 (155A), to an appropriately trained and Iowa-registered pharmacy technician .
(2) Remote supervision. A supervising pharmacist may delegate technical functions relating to prescription processing (e.g., data entry) to a certified pharmacy technician who is performing the delegated functions at a location that is not a licensed pharmacy only if the following conditions are met:
a. Adequate security and supervision are maintained at all times to prevent unauthorized access to, and unauthorized storage/transfer of, confidential patient information or patient records;
b. The supervising pharmacist has real-time access to the prescription processing system which the certified pharmacy technician is using or the patient record which the certified pharmacy technician is processing;
c. The supervising pharmacist is available to respond to certified pharmacy technician questions via a real-time communication mechanism at all times when delegated functions are being performed; and
d. The pharmacy's prescription processing system is capable of documenting the functions performed by the certified pharmacy technician .
(3) Pharmacist final verification required. Except as provided for an approved technician product verification program pursuant to 657-Chapter 40, the pharmacist shall provide and document the final verification for the accuracy, validity, completeness, and appropriateness of the patient's prescription or medication order prior to the delivery of the medication to the patient or the patient's representative.
(4) Further delegation prohibited. A pharmacy technician shall not delegate technical functions to a pharmacy support person .