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Minnesota Board of Pharmacy |
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Minnesota Board of Pharmacy |
DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS. No disciplinary actions were required to be taken by the Board during the period of June 1 to September 1, 1998.
COMPLAINTS: GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS. During calendar year 1997, in addition to issues brought to the Board by the Board’s surveyors, the Board received 68 written complaints from members of the public. Among those 68 complaints were 31 confirmed cases of dispensing errors by pharmacists, five cases where pharmacists failed to counsel patients when patients needed and expected to receive drug information, four cases of violation of patient confidentiality, and four cases where the pharmacist was simply rude to the patient. Of the 31 cases of dispensing errors, 28 of them could have been avoided if the pharmacist had taken the time to counsel the patient. Three errors appeared to be of such a nature that they probably would not have been detected during counseling. Patient counseling is not only good for the patient, it can prevent pharmacists from having to exercise their liability insurance.
Thus far, in 1998, the good news is that the total number of complaints appears to be down, in that the Board has received only 38 written complaints through the end of August from members of the public. The bad news is that 18 of those 38 complaints involved dispensing errors, three involved failure to counsel, three involved violation of patient confidentiality. Only one complaint has been received, so far, about pharmacists being rude to the patient. So far, 17 of the 18 dispensing errors could have been avoided had the pharmacist counseled the patient. Only one of the 18 dispensing errors was of such a nature that it’s unlikely that it would have been detected during patient counseling.
While there are a number of variables involved in these statistics, it appears that the number of dispensing errors being made by pharmacists, as a percentage of total complaints, is continuing to increase. Unfortunately, it appears that, in spite of the Board’s requirement that a pharmacist check each prescription and certify the accuracy of the prescription before it’s delivered to the patient, errors are still getting to the patient. It is doubly unfortunate that pharmacists are also seldom counseling patients when it has been shown, not only from our casual observations but from documented studies, that patient counseling can play a major role in preventing dispensing errors from reaching the patient.
BOARD HIRES NEW INSPECTOR. The Board of Pharmacy is pleased to announce that it has hired Candice M. Fleming to fill a vacant position as Board of Pharmacy Inspector. Ms. Fleming brings, to the Board, experience in hospital pharmacy, retail pharmacy, and home health care. Ms. Fleming is originally from Perham, Minnesota and is an NDSU Grad. Ms. Fleming is a welcome addition to the Board of Pharmacy staff.
PHARMACY TRENDS. Statistics in pharmacy licensure for 1997 show a reversal of the trend of the previous four years, in that new pharmacies have once again outnumbered closed pharmacies for the state of Minnesota. For the four years ending with 1996, a greater number of pharmacies closed their doors than were newly opened. 1997 saw a reversal of that trend. In 1997, 36 new pharmacies opened for business. Nine were independents, 15 were chains, and 12 were "other," such as clinic pharmacies, home IV therapy pharmacies, etc. During 1997, 27 pharmacies closed. Of these, 18 were independents, five were chains, and four were "other."
Through the end of August 1998, if certain unusual circumstances are discounted, the trend from 1997 has continued. Complicating the data for 1998 is the fact that two state hospitals and two state prisons closed, and three small community hospitals just outside the twin cities closed and merged into one new regional hospital. Aside from those unusual circumstances, 1998 has, so far, seen 17 new pharmacies open with 14 more in application status, and ten pharmacies close. Of the ten pharmacies that closed, six were independents, two were chains, and two were "other." Of the 31 pharmacies that have either opened or are in application status in 1998, six are independents, nine are chains, and 16 are "other." Specialty pharmacies appear to be increasing dramatically.
CONTINUING EDUCATION UPDATES. The 1996 to 1998 continuing education reporting period is now over and all Minnesota pharmacists should have submitted their evidence of continuing education participation to the Board office. Any pharmacists who have not yet reported their continuing education participation must do so immediately or, in the alternative, request an extension of time, from the Board, in which to submit their CE records. Any request for an extension must be made in writing to the Board, and must include information on why the extension is necessary, how long an extension is being requested, and what programs will be used to meet the continuing education requirements.
At the end of November, license renewal applications will be generated for those pharmacists who have completed their continuing education requirements. The license renewal applications will be mailed at the end of December. Any Minnesota pharmacist who has not received their license renewal application by mid-January should contact the Board of Pharmacy office immediately.
For the continuing education reporting cycle, which runs from October 1, 1998 to September 30, 2000, the Board will be implementing some changes in the manner in which CE participation is recorded.
At the present time, pharmacists submit evidence of continuing education participation as they are accumulated and the Board enters each such submission into the pharmacist’s record. At periodic intervals, the Board produces a summary of continuing education participation and mails that information to each pharmacist. With the 98-00 reporting period, however, the Board will no longer provide this on-going record keeping service. In addition, at the end of the reporting cycle, in September of 2000, the Board will only require an affidavit from each pharmacist attesting to the completion of the required continuing education programs. The Board will then audit at least 10% of the pharmacists and request submission of documentation of CE participation from those individuals randomly selected.
The Minnesota Pharmacists Association will expand its current continuing education record keeping system to provide the on-going continuing education records currently provided by the Board. Contact MPhA for additional information regarding this service.
FUTURE MEETING DATES.
The following is a schedule of Board meetings and examination dates for the remainder of 1998 and 1999.
December 1, 1998 Reciprocity Exam (Beginning in 1999, Reciprocity Examinations will be available on an essentially "on demand" basis.)
December 9, 1998 Business Meeting
January 26 & 27, 1999 Board Exam / Business Meeting
March 17, 1999 Business Meeting
April 28, 1999 Business Meeting
June 22 & 23, 1999 Board Exam / Business Meeting
August 4, 1999 Business Meeting
September 15, 1999 Business Meeting
October 20, 1999 Business Meeting
December 7, 1999 Business Meeting
Agendas for each business meeting are developed approximately two weeks before the
meeting. New pharmacy applications, requests for variances, or other items to be brought
to the Board’s attention must be received in the Board office at least two weeks
before each meeting.
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