WSR 23-18-006

PERMANENT RULES

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

(Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission)

[Filed August 23, 2023, 3:38 p.m., effective September 23, 2023]

Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

Purpose: The pharmacy quality assurance commission (commission) is repealing continuing education (CE) requirements established in chapter 246-861 WAC and WAC 246-901-061, as such requirements are also in practice in more current sections of rule, WAC 246-945-178 and 246-945-220.

The commission completed a major rules consolidation project in 2020 in which various sections and chapters in Title 246 WAC were either repealed or consolidated into new chapter 246-945 WAC. The new CE requirements in chapter 246-945 WAC require pharmacists whose licenses expire on or after December 1, 2021 to complete the equivalent of 3.0 continuing pharmacy education units (CPE) administered by an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited provider prior to renewing their license. Pharmacy technicians whose licenses expire on or after December 1, 2021, must complete the equivalent of 2.0 CPE administered by an ACPE accredited provider. Additionally, the license renewal cycle for both licensee groups is increased from one year to two years.

Transitioning all licensees onto the new renewal cycle took one year from December 1, 2021, because everyone had to have one renewal cycle to get onto the two-year cycle. In other words, updated CE requirements did not take effect for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians whose licenses expired before December 1, 2022, because the new CE rules correspond with a two-year license cycle and a change in license fees to match that cycle. This required the older sections of rule establishing CE standards, WAC 246-861-090 and 246-901-061, be maintained until the one-year license cycle for those pharmacists and pharmacy technicians ended on December 1, 2022. The commission issued a guidance document (G001) that went into effect on July 1, 2020, and was updated on December 3, 2020, for the purpose of retaining the older sections of rule until the December 1, 2022, expiration date. Now that the expiration date has passed, the commission is repealing these rules.

Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 246-861-010, 246-861-020, 246-861-040, 246-861-050, 246-861-055, 246-861-060, 246-861-090, 246-861-095, 246-861-105, and 246-901-061.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 18.64.005, 18.64A.020.

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 23-05-010 on February 2, 2023.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 10.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 10.

Date Adopted: August 23, 2023.

Kenneth Kenyon, PharmD, BCPS, Chair

Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission

OTS-4230.1

The following chapter of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed:

OTS-4229.1

The following chapter of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed: