Colorado Pharmacy Law: Telehealth and Identifying Valid Preexisting Patient-Practitioner Relationships

The Colorado Medical Board recently published a new draft policy, No. 40-27, on “Guidelines for Appropriate Use of Telehealth Technologies in the Practice of Medicine.” The projected effective date is August 20, 2015.

The new guidelines, however, appear to be at odds with the existing Colorado Board of Pharmacy rules that state, in part, the following:

3.00.21. 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. 

Based on Colorado pharmacy case law, pharmacists that violated the Rule 3.00.21 have been disciplined by the Colorado Board of Pharmacy. In many cases, the pharmacists were issued letters of admonition, which is public reprimand issued to a pharmacist.

Ultimately, Colorado pharmacists should continue to use extreme caution when they identify prescriptions issued to patients based on telehealth consultations. Right now, the best course of action may be to contact the Colorado Medical Board directly to determine if (1) a patient-practitioner relationship was established under the new policy and (2) obtain guidance on whether that relationship was sufficient enough to satisfy the “preexisting” relationship requirement under current Colorado pharmacy rules that would then allow the pharmacist to lawfully dispense the prescription medication.

Follow the Baer Law Blog, for updates on both the Colorado Medical Board guidelines and any Colorado Board of Pharmacy rule updates.