Harding Students Lobbied for Arkansas Therapeutic Substitution Law

NEW INDEPENDENT PHARMACIST
Harding Students Lobbied for Arkansas
Therapeutic Substitution Law
by Elizabeth Scott and Tyler Staten
I
n August 2012, the first meeting of the Harding
(Arkansas) University Political Advocacy class began
under the direction of Rodney Richmond, associate professor of pharmacy practice. The course was
developed to increase pharmacy students’ awareness,
exposure, and experience in the legislative process and
policy issues affecting the pharmacy profession. Little
did anyone know that this would lead to the birth, growth,
and passing of a therapeutic substitution bill that expands
pharmacy practice in Arkansas, making it the first state in
the nation to adopt such a law.
This change to the Arkansas pharmacy practice
act, Act 274, will allow therapeutic substitution by a
pharmacist when authorized by a physician on the
initial prescription. This will allow the pharmacist to
recognize that when a medication is not covered by
insurance, is at a higher tiered copay, or a patient has
a drug allergy, a different medication may be chosen
from the same therapeutic class. The patient must be
counseled and must consent to the change to a similar
drug. From there, the prescription can be dispensed
thus allowing the patient to receive a drug
at a lower cost, while saving a patient the
extended wait time due to the pharmacist
and physician normally trying to contact each
other to allow a change. A notification will
then be sent by fax or electronic means to the
prescribing physician within 24 hours of the
therapeutic substitution. Overall, this process
will shorten a lengthy process down to five
or 10 minutes, resulting in decreased patient
wait time and perhaps improved medication
compliance as a result of the medication being made more affordable.
Beginning early in the fall semester of
2012, advocacy students met with Arkansas
Pharmacists Association Executive Vice President Mark Riley, and APA Associate Executive
Vice President Scott Pace to talk about current
pharmacy issues. One topic on the agenda
related to the redefinition of a prescription. The
students immediately jumped on board be-
Rodney Richmond, Tyler Staten, Kejal Patel, Rep. Mark Biviano, Eliza-
Haleigh Scallion, Tiffany Keathley, Rodney Richmond, Sen.
beth Scott, Abby Cooper, and Monica Payne.
Jonathan Dismang, Chris Hill, and Matt Curtis.
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america’s
Pharmacist | May 2013
www.americaspharmacist.net
cause they saw it as an achievable advancement in pharmacy practice. In the fall, while
the APA was drafting the legal wording of the
bill, the students were hard at work. Research
was done to develop concrete evidence in
support of allowing pharmacists to utilize their
knowledge for patient care. This research
resulted in a white paper outlining the importance of the bill, as well as multiple meetings
with state legislators, educating them on the
topic and gaining support.
The advocacy class hosted a “Dinner with
the Legislators” event on campus at the end
of the semester. The dinner created a forum
for dialogue between community pharmacists,
pharmacy students, the APA, and local legislators regarding the bill, as well as other health
care issues.
On Jan. 14, the 89th General Assembly of
the Arkansas State Legislature convened with
the addition of a new class of advocates to
the cause. Students met with the APA to discuss final bill wording, and conducted further
research in revising the white paper to reflect
updated changes. There were final meetings
with some of the legislators to educate them
about these changes and to further solidify
their support. On Jan. 28, HB1185 was filed
with Rep. Marshall Wright (D) as its sponsor.
Shortly afterward Sen. Jonathan Dismang
(R) agreed to co-sponsor the bill. From here,
students reached out to the Harding University
College of Pharmacy family in a grassroots
effort to get them involved in assisting with an
email campaign, expanding the awareness
and helping to procure votes from House and
Senate committee members, and floor votes
from the other representatives and senators.
The spring advocacy class attended the
Feb. 14 meeting of the House Public Health,
Welfare and Labor Committee and watched
as HB1185 passed unanimously. On Feb. 18,
the House passed HB1185 unopposed and
it was sent to the Senate. On Feb. 20, the
students attended the Senate Public Health,
Welfare and Labor Committee meeting, with
www.americaspharmacist.net
Rep. Marshall Wright, Tyler Staten, Abby Cooper, Chris Hill, Kejal Patel,
Rodney Richmond, Debra Wolfe (APA Director of Government Affairs)
and Mark Riley (APA executive vice president) attend the signing of
HB1185 by Gov. Mike Beebe.
Harding pharmacy students Abby Cooper and Tyler
Staten testifying in support of HB1185. The committee
passed HB1185 with token opposition and in a similar
fashion on the Senate floor on Feb. 25. On March 1, the
students attended the signing of HB1185 by Gov. Mike
Beebe (D), thus declaring it Act 274.
In just a few short
months, nine Harding University
College of Pharmacy students …were
able to watch their efforts result in an
advancement in pharmacy
practice for Arkansas pharmacists.
In just a few short months, nine Harding University
College of Pharmacy students (Abby Cooper, Matt Curtis,
Chris Hill, Tiffany Keathley, Kejal Patel, Monica Payne, Haleigh Scallion, Elizabeth Scott, and Tyler Staten) were able
to watch their efforts result in an advancement in pharmacy practice for Arkansas pharmacists. Our advocacy
class hopes that Act 274 of 2013 will serve as an example
to other health care professionals just how achievable
goals can be and how every voice matters.
Elizabeth Scott is a 2015 PharmD candidate and Tyler Staten a 2014
PharmD candidate at Harding University, Searcy, Ark. Staten is also
Harding’s NCPA student chapter president.
May 2013 | america’s Pharmacist
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