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Government Affairs Report
Good Bye Good Friend and Task Force Deliberations
by Jim Owen and Scott A. Meyers
Since 2001, ICHP has enjoyed a growing legislative and regulatory presence in Springfield and Chicago because of the efforts of our legislative consultant (licensed lobbyist in Illinois), Jim Owen! That era is sadly coming to an end as Jim has begun to plan his official retirement from the Capitol scene. That is, as soon as he can help us find his replacement. In these 18 short years (at least it seems short to me!) we have learned a lot, done a lot, and hopefully inspired a lot of you to get more involved in legislative and regulatory issues in Illinois and in the U.S. Jim has been a great teacher, coach and trailblazer for ICHP and he will be sorely missed.
While Jim has not necessarily written a lot of these columns over those 18 years, everything you have read here has had his signature or footprint on it. He has taken ICHP from “Who are you guys?” status before he got here, to “Oh yeah, you’re the hospital guys” and finally now to “What’s ICHP’s position on this legislation?” from most of the legislators and many of the other lobbyists! Our relationship with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (the pharmacy chains’ voice in Springfield) has never been better. Good bye, good friend and thank you, Jim, for all you’ve done!
Another quick note before we get to the Task Force deliberations - in case you didn’t read the Board of Pharmacy update for January yet - one bill from last spring that seems to need highlighting again is SB3170 or Public Act 100-0804. This bill was signed by Governor Rauner back in August, highlighted in a couple of earlier KeePosteds and is now in effect in Illinois. The bill is simple and straightforward and allows non-controlled substances to be prescribed for up to 15 months beginning on January 1, 2019. This applies only to new prescriptions written after the first of the year. Send the word to your outpatient pharmacies if they haven’t already heard or read about it.
Task Force Deliberations – At the January 8th meeting of the Collaborative Pharmaceutical Task Force, the discussions began with a review of several questions that will be sent to the Director of General Counsel at the Department of Labor for clarification of existing labor laws and how they may or may not apply to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. These questions specifically involve mandatory meal breaks, mandatory shift lengths and frequencies and overtime compensation described in the One Day of Rest in Seven Act. A list of 10 questions were reviewed and revised by the Task Force.
The second topic of discussion related to revisions in the grounds for discipline in the Act and Rules. The Task Force agreed on the following recommendations as grounds for discipline:
- Asking or requiring pharmacists to advertise or solicit services offered by the pharmacy or store if they jeopardize the health, safety, or welfare of patients.
- Failure to provide a working environment for all pharmacy personnel that protects the health, safety, and welfare of patients. This includes providing insufficient personnel to prevent fatigue, distraction, or other conditions that interfere with a pharmacist’s ability to practice with competency and safety.
- Introducing external factors such as productivity or production quotas or other programs to the extent that they interfere with the ability to provide appropriate professional services to the public.
Finally, the Task Force discussed adding text to the grounds for discipline that reminded the pharmacy owner and pharmacist-in-charge that employees who report violations of Illinois or federal law to the appropriate agency are protected under the Illinois Whistleblowers Act. There is some concern that this language may not meet the intent desired, so Department General Counsel will discuss and return with an opinion.
The third topic that was briefly discussed related to what tasks pharmacy technicians may carry out when the pharmacist is out of the office on a break. The Task Force agreed that receiving new prescriptions and refill orders, filling prescriptions to await verification by the pharmacist, and dispensing pharmacist-verified refill prescriptions that the pharmacist has judged to not require further counseling should be permitted. If the patient or care-giver has questions related to refill prescriptions, the technician should obtain a telephone number where the patient or caregiver may be reached as soon as it is convenient after the pharmacist returns from break.
The next meeting of the Task Force will take place at 1:30 pm on Wednesday, February 13th in both Springfield and Chicago.
Followed by meetings on:
◆March 12, 2019
◆May 14, 2019
◆June 11, 2019
◆July 9, 2019
◆August 13, 2019
Frontline pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are encouraged to attend to provide real-life experiences when discussing specific topics. The next meeting will discuss expanding the roles of pharmacy technicians. Meeting location details will be posted on the Department website at
https://www.idfpr.com/profs/Boards/PharmTaskForce.asp.
