Evaluation of State Drug Information Resource Requirements

Signature Grand, Davie, Florida, USA

Background. Requirements for drug information (DI) resources can differ by state, practice setting or specialty. Objective. To determine each State’s requirements for the type and format of DI resources that must be kept in a pharmacy according to general or specialty practice. Methods. All States were targeted to identify mandated DI resources. Criteria were: 1) whether a range or specified references are permitted, 2) if general resources or specialty practices require additional references, 3) whether format (i.e. print or electronic) is specified, and 4) if law resources are mandated. Information was culled from each State’s Board of Pharmacy. Results. All Boards of Pharmacy listed reference requirements. Sixty-five percent of States specified additional resources according to specialty or site including: chemotherapy, compounding, dialysis, immunization, parenterals, nuclear/radiopharmaceuticals, sterile injectables, as well as clinics, hospital pharmacies, home health services, opioid treatment programs, specialty pharmacies, long-term care pharmacies, prison clinics, and tele-pharmacies. Only 3.8% of States (South Dakota and Minnesota) require print or hardcopy editions of resources must be kept in the pharmacy. Seventy-seven percent of States also mandate that current law resources must be maintained in the pharmacy. Conclusion. Almost all States now allow electronic resources to satisfy Board of Pharmacy requirements. The majority of States also require that DI resources other than core holdings be maintained when the scope or setting includes specialty practices. Consequently, pharmacists need to be aware that their scope of practice can dictate which DI resources they need to maintain to be in compliance for their State.