Colorado 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

Colorado Law

I. Laws
12-22-102. Definitions.
12-22-121.7 Limited authority to delegate activities constituting practice of pharmacy to pharmacy interns or pharmacy technicians.

12-22-102. Definitions.
(24.2) “Pharmacy technician” means an unlicensed person who performs those functions set forth in paragraph (b) of subsection (26) of this section under the supervision of a pharmacist.
12-22-121.7. Limited authority to delegate activities constituting practice of pharmacy to pharmacy interns or pharmacy technicians.

(1) Repealed. ARTICLE 22: PHARMACEUTICALS AND PHARMACISTS Effective July 1, 2011 Page 25 of 64

(2)
(a) A pharmacist may supervise up to three persons who are either pharmacy interns or pharmacy technicians, of whom no more than two may be pharmacy interns. If three pharmacy technicians are on duty, at least one shall be certified by a nationally recognized certification board, possess a degree from an accredited pharmacy technician training program, or have completed five hundred hours of experiential training in duties described in section 12-22-102 (26)

(b) at the pharmacy as certified by the pharmacist manager. Documentation verifying the training shall be retained within the pharmacy for review by the pharmacist responsible for the final check on prescriptions filled by the pharmacy technician and available for inspection by the board. This supervision ratio does not include other ancillary personnel that may be in the prescription drug outlet, but are not performing duties described in section 12-22-102 (26) (b) that are delegated to such interns or pharmacy technicians. (b) This subsection (2) is effective February 1, 1999.

II. Regulations
7.00.30 Compliance of Outlet
7.00.30 Compliance of Outlet:

a. The manager of a prescription drug outlet is responsible for the operation of the outlet in compliance with all state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.
b. The manager shall be responsible for posting the following information for each pharmacy technician working in the compounding/dispensing area:

1. Certificate indicating the technician is certified by a nationally recognized certification Board; or
2. Diploma indicating the technician has graduated from an accredited pharmacy technician training program; or

3. Documentation that the pharmacy technician has completed five hundred hours of experiential training at the pharmacy. This documentation must be certified by the pharmacist manager of the prescription drug outlet; or

4. Documentation that the pharmacy technician does not have certification from a nationally recognized certification Board, has not graduated from an accredited pharmacy technician training program, and has not completed 500 hours of experiential training at the pharmacy.

c. The pharmacist manager is responsible for ensuring that all prescription drugs and controlled substances are procured by the outlet from an entity or person registered by the Colorado State Board of Pharmacy. Any drug designated as an Investigational New Drug from the Federal Food and Drug Administration is exempt from this requirement provided the research requirements for the receipt of the product are followed and it meets the requirements of CRS 12-22-128(2).

References
Colorado Statutes
http://www.dora.state.co.us/pharmacy/Statute.pdf

Pharmacy Rules and Regulations
http://www.dora.state.co.us/pharmacy/bus/technician_posting_log.pdf

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.