§ 73-21-111. Personnel regulations; registration of pharmacy technicians; annual registration fee; criminal
background checks [Repealed effective July 1, 2025].
(1) The board shall make, adopt, amend and repeal, from time to time, such rules and regulations for the regulation of supportive personnel as may be deemed necessary by the board.
(2) Every person who acts or serves as a pharmacy technician in a pharmacy that is located in this state and permitted by the board shall obtain a registration from the board. To obtain a pharmacy
technician registration the applicant must:
(a) Have submitted a written application on a form(s) prescribed by the board; and
(b) Be of good moral character; and
(c) Have paid the initial registration fee not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
(3) Each pharmacy technician shall renew his or her registration annually. To renew his or her registration, a technician must:
(a) Submit an application on a form prescribed by the board; and
(b) Pay a renewal fee not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for each annual registration period. The board may add a surcharge of not more than Five Dollars ($5.00) to the registration renewal fee to assist in funding a program that assists impaired pharmacists, pharmacy students and pharmacy technicians.
(4) To insure that all applicants are of good moral character, the board shall conduct a criminal history records check on all applicants for a license. In order to determine the applicant’s suitability for licensing, the applicant shall be fingerprinted. The board shall submit the fingerprints to the Department of Public Safety for a check of the state criminal records and forward to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a check of the national criminal records. The Department of Public Safety shall disseminate the results of the state check and the national check to the board for a suitability determination. The board shall be authorized to collect from the applicant the amount of the fee that the Department of Public Safety charges the board for the fingerprinting, whether manual or electronic, and the state and national criminal history records checks.
History: Laws, 1983, ch. 414, § 21; reenacted without change, Laws, 1991, ch. 527, § 21; reenacted without change, Laws, 1993, ch. 416, § 22; reenacted without change, Laws, 1998, ch. 511, § 23; reenacted and amended, Laws, 2002, ch. 501, § 23; Laws, 2005, ch. 514, § 2; reenacted without change, Laws, 2006, ch. 533, § 22; reenacted without change, Laws, 2011, ch. 546, § 21; reenacted without change, Laws, 2016, ch. 448, § 24,
ARTICLE XL PHARMACY TECHNICIANS
1. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN REGISTRATION.
Every person who acts or serves as a pharmacy technician must obtain a pharmacy technician registration from the Board in compliance with Mississippi Code Annotated Section 73-21-
111. In addition to the requirements of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 73-21-111, an applicant for pharmacy technician shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age and be a high school graduate or hold a GED equivalent. No pharmacist whose license has been denied, revoked, suspended, or restricted for disciplinary reasons shall be eligible to be registered as a pharmacy technician.
2. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN REGISTRATION RENEWAL.
Each pharmacy technician shall renew his/her registration annually pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 73-21-111. A pharmacy technician registration that has not been renewed by March 31 of each year shall become inactive and the pharmacy technician shall not perform any pharmacy technician duties until the registration is renewed. Pharmacy technician registrations that are renewed after March 31 of the renewal period shall be
charged a Fifty Dollar ($50) late renewal fee.
3. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN RESPONSIBILITIES AND GUIDELINES.
A. In order to adequately protect the public health, pharmacy technicians shall not:
a. Communicate, orally or in writing, any medical, therapeutic, clinical, or drug information or communicate any information recorded on a patient profile that requires professional judgment.
b. Accept by oral communication a new prescription of any nature.
c. Prepare a copy of a prescription or read a prescription to another person.
d. Provide a prescription or medication to a patient without a pharmacist’s verification as to the accuracy of the dispensed medication. For the purposes of this regulation, verification shall mean that the licensed pharmacist shall be aware of the patient’s medication profile, Drug Utilization Review, computer overrides, and drug interactions as well as the accuracy of the selected medication and labeling.
e. Counsel a patient on medications or perform a drug utilization review.
f. Perform any task that requires the professional judgment of a pharmacist.
g. Perform any task that is in violation of any federal or state pharmacy or drug laws.
B. Persons registered with the Board as a pharmacy technician may perform approved tasks under the direct supervision of a registered pharmacist as follows:
a. Packing, pouring or placing in a container for dispensing, sale, distribution, transfer possession of, vending, or barter any drug, medicine, poison, or chemical which, under the laws of the United States or the State of Mississippi, may be sold or dispensed only on the prescription of a practitioner authorized by law to prescribe
drugs, medicines, poisons, or chemicals. This shall also include the adding of water for reconstitution of oral antibiotic liquids.
b. Affixing required labels upon any container of drugs, medicines, poisons, or chemicals sold or dispensed upon prescription of a practitioner authorized by law to prescribe those drugs, medicines, poisons, or chemicals.
c. Taking from and replacing upon shelves in the prescription department of a pharmacy, drugs, medicines, chemicals, or poisons which are required by the law of the United States or the State of Mississippi to be sold or dispensed only on prescription of a practitioner authorized by law to prescribe them.
d. Entering information into the pharmacy computer. The pharmacy technician shall not make any judgmental decisions, which could affect patient care. The final verification of prescription information entered into the computer shall be made by the supervising pharmacist who is then totally responsible for all aspects of the data and data entry.
e. Obtaining prescriber authorization for prescription refills provided that nothing about the prescription is changed.
f. Prepackaging and labeling of multi-dose and unit-dose packages of medication. The pharmacist must establish the procedures, including selection of containers, labels and lot numbers, and must check the finished task.
g. Dose picking for unit dose cart fill for a hospital or for a nursing home patient.
h. Checking and inspecting nursing units in a hospital or nursing home: Pharmacy technicians may check nursing units for proper medication storage and other related floor stock medication issues. Any related medication storage problems or concerns shall be documented and initialed by a pharmacist.
i. Recording patient or medication information in electronic systems for later validation by the pharmacist.
j. Bulk reconstitution of prefabricated non-injectable medication.
k. Bulk compounding. This category may include such items as sterile bulk solutions for small volume injectables, sterile irrigating solutions, products prepared in relatively large volume for internal or external use by patients, and reagents or other products for the pharmacy or other departments of a hospital.
l. Preparation of parenteral products as follows: The pharmacy technician must follow guidelines established by the pharmacist by policy and procedures. Pharmacy technicians may perform functions involving reconstitution of single or multiple dosage units that are to be administered to a given patient as a unit. Pharmacy technicians may perform functions involving the addition of one manufacturer’s
single dose or multiple unit doses of the same product to another manufacturer’s prepared unit to be administered to a patient. The supervising pharmacist must verify the accuracy in all instances.
m. Pharmacy Technicians in an institutional setting may conduct patient medication histories without the direct supervision of a pharmacist. The institution must have policies and procedures and training protocols to govern such tasks.
C. Every person acting or serving as a pharmacy technician shall wear a name tag, while on duty, identifying him or her as a pharmacy technician. When communicating by telephone, the pharmacy technician shall promptly identify himself or herself as a
pharmacy technician.
D. Each pharmacy technician registered by the Board shall be responsible to maintain current information in the Board’s licensing system. Each pharmacy technician shall update any change of employment or change of residential address within ten (10) days of the change occurring. If the pharmacy technician becomes unemployed, the pharmacy technician shall update the employment status to unemployed within ten (10) days of becoming unemployed. Failure to update information changes in the Board’s licensing system may result in disciplinary action by the Board.” Paragraph 1 INTRODUCTION and Paragraph 5 REVOCATION, SUSPENSION AND/OR REFUSAL TO ISSUE REGISTRATION appear to have been removed from this regulation.
The data contained in this 2012 Annual Scorecard are accurate as of December 2012 . Because statutes and regulations are continually revised, the data are subject to change. These data have been verified with the state board of pharmacy. This scorecard is updated on an annual basis in order to incorporate statutory and regulatory changes. A new scorecard will be issued in July 2013.
Scoring rationale for Education and Training: In order to protect the public and help ensure patient safety, it is important that pharmacy technicians are properly educated and trained. The most rigorous training is accredited training. The sole entity empowered to accredit pharmacy-technician training programs is the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Please note that this is “programmatic accreditation” – not “institutional accreditation.” It is the content of the training program – as measured against established standards – that is being evaluated and accredited. Accredited training is vital to protecting patient safety because it means that a pharmacy-technician training program has met established quality standards to provide assurance and confidence to the public. For more information, please see http://www.ashp.org/menu/Accreditation/TechnicianAccreditation.aspx.
Scoring rationale for Certification: Certification is the process by which a nongovernmental agency or association grants recognition to an individual who has met certain predetermined qualifications specified by that agency or association. This is often determined by an examination process. Numerous organizations have recommended that the certification exam conducted by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) should be recognized as the sole, nationally-accredited certification exam for pharmacy technician certification – including the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), the Texas State Board of Pharmacy (TSBP), and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In a recent report, NABP recommended that states be encouraged to “recognize certification by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB).” Moreover, NABP performed a psychometric audit of the PTCB’s pharmacy technician certification examination (PTCE) in 2001 and determined that the PTCE is psychometrically sound, defensible, and valid. In May 2010, the TSBP awarded the PTCB with the Pharmacy Technician Certification Provider contract in Texas. PTCB was selected for the contract after a rigorous bidding and evaluation process that included formal reviews and evaluations from three independent psychometricians. TSBP confidently recognizes PTCB as the single provider of certification examinations for pharmacy technicians. In addition, in June 2010, the VA began requiring PTCB certification for VA pharmacy technicians employed at grade GS-6 and above.
Scoring rationale for Registration/Licensure: Registration/licensure is the process by which the state maintains a list of all pharmacy technicians in the state and grants permission for an individual to work as a pharmacy technician in the state based on the applicant’s completion of all pre-requisites to registration/licensure – such as required training and certification.
Scoring rationale for Continuing Education: Continuing education enables pharmacy technicians to fulfill their professional responsibility to maintain competence and up-to-date knowledge and skills in an environment of technological advances and increasingly complex, new medications and therapies.
Our Mission
The Emily Jerry Foundation is determined to help make our nation’s,
world renowned, medical facilities safer for everyone, beginning with
our babies and children. We are accomplishing this very important
objective by focusing on increasing public awareness of key patient
safety related issues and identifying technology and best practices that
are proven to minimize the “human error” component of medicine.
Through our ongoing efforts The Emily Jerry Foundation is working
hard to save lives every day.
Mississippi Scorecard
Grading Scale:
A – 85-100%, B – 70-84.9%, C – 55-69.9%, D – 40-54.9%, F – 0-39.9%
Grading Categories & Criteria
Mississippi Law
I. Laws
Mississippi Pharmacy Act
https://www.mbp.ms.gov/compliance/mississippi-pharmacy-practice-act
§ 73-21-111. Personnel regulations; registration of pharmacy technicians; annual registration fee; criminal
background checks [Repealed effective July 1, 2025].
(1) The board shall make, adopt, amend and repeal, from time to time, such rules and regulations for the regulation of supportive personnel as may be deemed necessary by the board.
(2) Every person who acts or serves as a pharmacy technician in a pharmacy that is located in this state and permitted by the board shall obtain a registration from the board. To obtain a pharmacy
technician registration the applicant must:
(a) Have submitted a written application on a form(s) prescribed by the board; and
(b) Be of good moral character; and
(c) Have paid the initial registration fee not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
(3) Each pharmacy technician shall renew his or her registration annually. To renew his or her registration, a technician must:
(a) Submit an application on a form prescribed by the board; and
(b) Pay a renewal fee not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for each annual registration period. The board may add a surcharge of not more than Five Dollars ($5.00) to the registration renewal fee to assist in funding a program that assists impaired pharmacists, pharmacy students and pharmacy technicians.
(4) To insure that all applicants are of good moral character, the board shall conduct a criminal history records check on all applicants for a license. In order to determine the applicant’s suitability for licensing, the applicant shall be fingerprinted. The board shall submit the fingerprints to the Department of Public Safety for a check of the state criminal records and forward to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a check of the national criminal records. The Department of Public Safety shall disseminate the results of the state check and the national check to the board for a suitability determination. The board shall be authorized to collect from the applicant the amount of the fee that the Department of Public Safety charges the board for the fingerprinting, whether manual or electronic, and the state and national criminal history records checks.
History: Laws, 1983, ch. 414, § 21; reenacted without change, Laws, 1991, ch. 527, § 21; reenacted without change, Laws, 1993, ch. 416, § 22; reenacted without change, Laws, 1998, ch. 511, § 23; reenacted and amended, Laws, 2002, ch. 501, § 23; Laws, 2005, ch. 514, § 2; reenacted without change, Laws, 2006, ch. 533, § 22; reenacted without change, Laws, 2011, ch. 546, § 21; reenacted without change, Laws, 2016, ch. 448, § 24,
Mississippi Regulations (Administrative Code)
https://www.sos.ms.gov/adminsearch/ACCode/00000279c.pdf
ARTICLE XL PHARMACY TECHNICIANS
1. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN REGISTRATION.
Every person who acts or serves as a pharmacy technician must obtain a pharmacy technician registration from the Board in compliance with Mississippi Code Annotated Section 73-21-
111. In addition to the requirements of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 73-21-111, an applicant for pharmacy technician shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age and be a high school graduate or hold a GED equivalent. No pharmacist whose license has been denied, revoked, suspended, or restricted for disciplinary reasons shall be eligible to be registered as a pharmacy technician.
2. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN REGISTRATION RENEWAL.
Each pharmacy technician shall renew his/her registration annually pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 73-21-111. A pharmacy technician registration that has not been renewed by March 31 of each year shall become inactive and the pharmacy technician shall not perform any pharmacy technician duties until the registration is renewed. Pharmacy technician registrations that are renewed after March 31 of the renewal period shall be
charged a Fifty Dollar ($50) late renewal fee.
3. PHARMACY TECHNICIAN RESPONSIBILITIES AND GUIDELINES.
A. In order to adequately protect the public health, pharmacy technicians shall not:
a. Communicate, orally or in writing, any medical, therapeutic, clinical, or drug information or communicate any information recorded on a patient profile that requires professional judgment.
b. Accept by oral communication a new prescription of any nature.
c. Prepare a copy of a prescription or read a prescription to another person.
d. Provide a prescription or medication to a patient without a pharmacist’s verification as to the accuracy of the dispensed medication. For the purposes of this regulation, verification shall mean that the licensed pharmacist shall be aware of the patient’s medication profile, Drug Utilization Review, computer overrides, and drug interactions as well as the accuracy of the selected medication and labeling.
e. Counsel a patient on medications or perform a drug utilization review.
f. Perform any task that requires the professional judgment of a pharmacist.
g. Perform any task that is in violation of any federal or state pharmacy or drug laws.
B. Persons registered with the Board as a pharmacy technician may perform approved tasks under the direct supervision of a registered pharmacist as follows:
a. Packing, pouring or placing in a container for dispensing, sale, distribution, transfer possession of, vending, or barter any drug, medicine, poison, or chemical which, under the laws of the United States or the State of Mississippi, may be sold or dispensed only on the prescription of a practitioner authorized by law to prescribe
drugs, medicines, poisons, or chemicals. This shall also include the adding of water for reconstitution of oral antibiotic liquids.
b. Affixing required labels upon any container of drugs, medicines, poisons, or chemicals sold or dispensed upon prescription of a practitioner authorized by law to prescribe those drugs, medicines, poisons, or chemicals.
c. Taking from and replacing upon shelves in the prescription department of a pharmacy, drugs, medicines, chemicals, or poisons which are required by the law of the United States or the State of Mississippi to be sold or dispensed only on prescription of a practitioner authorized by law to prescribe them.
d. Entering information into the pharmacy computer. The pharmacy technician shall not make any judgmental decisions, which could affect patient care. The final verification of prescription information entered into the computer shall be made by the supervising pharmacist who is then totally responsible for all aspects of the data and data entry.
e. Obtaining prescriber authorization for prescription refills provided that nothing about the prescription is changed.
f. Prepackaging and labeling of multi-dose and unit-dose packages of medication. The pharmacist must establish the procedures, including selection of containers, labels and lot numbers, and must check the finished task.
g. Dose picking for unit dose cart fill for a hospital or for a nursing home patient.
h. Checking and inspecting nursing units in a hospital or nursing home: Pharmacy technicians may check nursing units for proper medication storage and other related floor stock medication issues. Any related medication storage problems or concerns shall be documented and initialed by a pharmacist.
i. Recording patient or medication information in electronic systems for later validation by the pharmacist.
j. Bulk reconstitution of prefabricated non-injectable medication.
k. Bulk compounding. This category may include such items as sterile bulk solutions for small volume injectables, sterile irrigating solutions, products prepared in relatively large volume for internal or external use by patients, and reagents or other products for the pharmacy or other departments of a hospital.
l. Preparation of parenteral products as follows: The pharmacy technician must follow guidelines established by the pharmacist by policy and procedures. Pharmacy technicians may perform functions involving reconstitution of single or multiple dosage units that are to be administered to a given patient as a unit. Pharmacy technicians may perform functions involving the addition of one manufacturer’s
single dose or multiple unit doses of the same product to another manufacturer’s prepared unit to be administered to a patient. The supervising pharmacist must verify the accuracy in all instances.
m. Pharmacy Technicians in an institutional setting may conduct patient medication histories without the direct supervision of a pharmacist. The institution must have policies and procedures and training protocols to govern such tasks.
C. Every person acting or serving as a pharmacy technician shall wear a name tag, while on duty, identifying him or her as a pharmacy technician. When communicating by telephone, the pharmacy technician shall promptly identify himself or herself as a
pharmacy technician.
D. Each pharmacy technician registered by the Board shall be responsible to maintain current information in the Board’s licensing system. Each pharmacy technician shall update any change of employment or change of residential address within ten (10) days of the change occurring. If the pharmacy technician becomes unemployed, the pharmacy technician shall update the employment status to unemployed within ten (10) days of becoming unemployed. Failure to update information changes in the Board’s licensing system may result in disciplinary action by the Board.” Paragraph 1 INTRODUCTION and Paragraph 5 REVOCATION, SUSPENSION AND/OR REFUSAL TO ISSUE REGISTRATION appear to have been removed from this regulation.
References
Mississippi Pharmacy act
http://www.mbp.state.ms.us/mbop/pharmacy.nsf/webpageedit/paLN_pracdb_compl/$FILE/Complete%20Statues.pdf?OpenElement
Mississippi Regulations
http://www.mbp.state.ms.us/mbop/pharmacy.nsf/webpageedit/RegulationsLN_regdb_FullReg/$FILE/Complete%20Regs.pdf?OpenElement
The data contained in this 2012 Annual Scorecard are accurate as of December 2012 . Because statutes and regulations are continually revised, the data are subject to change. These data have been verified with the state board of pharmacy. This scorecard is updated on an annual basis in order to incorporate statutory and regulatory changes. A new scorecard will be issued in July 2013.
Scoring rationale for Education and Training:
In order to protect the public and help ensure patient safety, it is important that pharmacy technicians are properly educated and trained. The most rigorous training is accredited training. The sole entity empowered to accredit pharmacy-technician training programs is the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Please note that this is “programmatic accreditation” – not “institutional accreditation.” It is the content of the training program – as measured against established standards – that is being evaluated and accredited. Accredited training is vital to protecting patient safety because it means that a pharmacy-technician training program has met established quality standards to provide assurance and confidence to the public. For more information, please see http://www.ashp.org/menu/Accreditation/TechnicianAccreditation.aspx.
Scoring rationale for Certification:
Certification is the process by which a nongovernmental agency or association grants recognition to an individual who has met certain predetermined qualifications specified by that agency or association. This is often determined by an examination process. Numerous organizations have recommended that the certification exam conducted by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) should be recognized as the sole, nationally-accredited certification exam for pharmacy technician certification – including the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), the Texas State Board of Pharmacy (TSBP), and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In a recent report, NABP recommended that states be encouraged to “recognize certification by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB).” Moreover, NABP performed a psychometric audit of the PTCB’s pharmacy technician certification examination (PTCE) in 2001 and determined that the PTCE is psychometrically sound, defensible, and valid. In May 2010, the TSBP awarded the PTCB with the Pharmacy Technician Certification Provider contract in Texas. PTCB was selected for the contract after a rigorous bidding and evaluation process that included formal reviews and evaluations from three independent psychometricians. TSBP confidently recognizes PTCB as the single provider of certification examinations for pharmacy technicians. In addition, in June 2010, the VA began requiring PTCB certification for VA pharmacy technicians employed at grade GS-6 and above.
Scoring rationale for Registration/Licensure:
Registration/licensure is the process by which the state maintains a list of all pharmacy technicians in the state and grants permission for an individual to work as a pharmacy technician in the state based on the applicant’s completion of all pre-requisites to registration/licensure – such as required training and certification.
Scoring rationale for Continuing Education:
Continuing education enables pharmacy technicians to fulfill their professional responsibility to maintain competence and up-to-date knowledge and skills in an environment of technological advances and increasingly complex, new medications and therapies.
Our Mission
The Emily Jerry Foundation is determined to help make our nation’s, world renowned, medical facilities safer for everyone, beginning with our babies and children. We are accomplishing this very important objective by focusing on increasing public awareness of key patient safety related issues and identifying technology and best practices that are proven to minimize the “human error” component of medicine. Through our ongoing efforts The Emily Jerry Foundation is working hard to save lives every day.
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