Colorado Board of Pharmacy Considering Rule Amendments to Address Medical Board Telehealth Guidelines

As previously discussed on the Baer Law Blog in August, the Colorado Medical Board (Medical Board) adopted Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Telehealth Technologies in the Practice of Medicine (Guidelines).

The Medical Board defined telehealth as:

“‘a mode of delivery of health care services through telecommunications systems, including information, electronic, and communication technologies, to facilitate the assessment, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management, or self-management of a person’s health care while the person is located at an originating site and the provider is located at a distant site. The term includes synchronous and store-and-forward transfers.’

The Colorado Board of Pharmacy (Pharmacy Board) is considering amending some of its rules to improve the administration and enforcement of the Pharmacists, Pharmacy Business and Pharmaceuticals Act.

Presently, the Pharmacy Board Rule 3.00.21 states, in part the following:

  • A pharmacist shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that any order, regardless of the means of transmission, has been issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an authorized practitioner.
  • A pharmacist shall not dispense a prescription drug if the pharmacist knows or should have known that the order for such drug was issued on the basis of an internet-based questionnaire, an internet-based consultation, or a telephonic consultation, all without a valid preexisting patient-practitioner relationship.

The proposed 3.00.21 rule is as follows:

  • A pharmacist shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that any order, regardless of the means of transmission, has been issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an authorized practitioner.
  • A pharmacist shall not dispense a prescription drug if the pharmacist knows or should know that the order for such a drug was issued without a valid preexisting patient-practitioner relationship. Such relationship need not involve an in-person encounter between the patient and practitioner if otherwise permissible under Colorado law. 
The above changes are only proposed draft rules. After soliciting views from interested stakeholders, the Pharmacy Board will likely commence the formal rule making process to ensure Rule 3.00.21 is consistent with the telehealth provisions of HB 15-1029.
Baer Law will keep you updated on the final rule.