W. Va. Code R. § 15-1-19 - [Effective 7/1/2025] Pharmacist Consultants

19.1. Locations requiring a pharmacist to serve as a pharmacy consultant:

19.1.1. Hospital or medical clinic without a pharmacy;

19.1.2. Humane society;

19.1.3. Weight loss clinic (registered as a facility);

19.1.4. Urgent care clinic;

19.1.5. Long Term Care Facility, including but not limited to, skilled nursing facilities, intermediate nursing facilities, nursing homes, extended care facilities, assisted living facilities, rest homes, and personal care centers;

19.1.6. Opioid Treatment Facility or Medication Assisted Treatment Facility;

19.1.7. Jails and correctional facilities.

19.2. Locations not required to have a pharmacist consultant;

19.2.1. Teaching institutions/researcher;

19.2.2. Emergency services;

19.2.3. Law enforcement;

19.2.4. Veterinary hospital/clinic

19.2.5. Dental practice

19.3. Requirements and registration.

19.3.1. A pharmacist providing consulting services shall be registered as a consultant pharmacist with the Board and shall be licensed to practice pharmacy in West Virginia.

19.3.2. Every pharmacist providing pharmacy consulting services shall apply annually on the prescribed form, to register with the Board as follows:

19.3.2.a. The consultant pharmacist shall file an application with the Board for each institution, place or person to whom consulting services are provided;

19.3.2.b. The application shall contain, but is not limited to:

19.3.2.b.1. The name, address and phone number of the applying consultant and his or her license number;

19.3.2.b.2. The name, address, phone number and type of institution, entity or person receiving the consulting services;

19.3.2.b.3. A description of the services to be provided by the consultant; and

19.3.2.b.4. The name and signature of the facility administrator.

19.3.3. The consultant pharmacist shall immediately report to the Board any change in the data previously placed on the application for registration as a consultant. If the consulting arrangement is discontinued the consultant pharmacist shall immediately return the consulting permit to the Board.

19.3.4. The fee for registration as a consultant is $20.00 annually for each registration.

19.4. Education - All pharmacist registered as consultants shall have three hours of continuing education in the subjects of consulting practice each year. These hours may be included in the mandatory 30 hours of continuing education required for license renewal as a pharmacist.

19.5. Responsibilities.

19.5.1. A pharmacist consultant shall document by date and time, in a permanent log book, his or her activities for each place where he or she is registered. This log book shall be present in each facility for which the consultant pharmacist is registered and shall be available for inspection by the Board at any time.

19.5.2. The pharmacist consultant shall initiate and maintain, in each facility, appropriate records and procedures for the receipt, storage and disposition of all drugs including but not limited to:

19.5.2.a. Prescriptions;

19.5.2.b. Floor stock;

19.5.2.c. Emergency boxes or kits;

19.5.2.d. Investigational drugs;

19.5.2.e. Samples; and

19.5.2.f. Outdated or discontinued drugs.

19.5.3. The pharmacist consultant shall maintain a Policy and Procedures Manual for pharmaceutical services. The Manual shall be available to all inspectors and available to patient care providers for their guidance in drug handling. The manual shall include, but not be limited to, provisions for the following:

19.5.3.a. Transcribing drug orders and prescription ordering;

19.5.3.b. Prescription delivery system and in-house verification;

19.5.3.c. Drug recall;

19.5.3.d. Automatic stop orders;

19.5.3.e. Formulary or standards for drug quality;

19.5.3.f. Systematic review of drug orders;

19.5.3.g. Reconciliation of controlled substances;

19.5.3.h. Disposition by the following means of prescriptions not totally consumed by the patient:

19.5.3.h.1. Return to pharmacy for credit; and

19.5.3.h.2. Destruction by the pharmacist in the presence of a registered nurse; and

19.5.3.i. In-serving drug education for other personnel.

19.5.4. The pharmacist consultant shall maintain an appropriate drug reference library for use by other health care personnel.

19.5.5. The pharmacist consultant shall insure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, both state and federal.

19.5.6. The pharmacist consultant shall make every effort to separate consulting duties from dispensing duties. Remuneration shall be comparable to that charged by a pharmacist consultant not associated with the supplier of drugs or devices.

19.5.6.a. The pharmacist or his or her employer shall receive remuneration directly from the facility to which he or she is proving the service.

19.5.6.b. If the pharmacist consultant has any financial interest in the pharmacy providing drugs or devices to the facility he or she may not provide consulting service in order to obtain an agreement to be the supplier.

19.5.7. Nothing in this rule precludes a patient in a skilled or intermediate nursing facility, or other voluntarily entered facility, from free choice of pharmacy services.

Notes

W. Va. Code R. § 15-1-19