Reminder to all pharmacy and DME Permit Holders – NABP A NABP E -Profile number will be required for all 2021 renewals. Board Rule .1615 requires all pharmacy and DME permit applicants and holders to obtain and report an e-Profile number issued by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) as a condition of permit issuance or renewal. Details and instructions may be found here.

Also in North Carolina. The next Board of Pharmacy election is scheduled to begin November 1, 2020. One position on the Board will be filled, the Southeastern District, which is comprised of Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin, Greene, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, and Wayne Counties. The winner of this election will begin their term on May 1, 2021. All pharmacists actively licensed by the Board and living in North Carolina at the time of the election will be eligible to vote. Beginning November 1, 2020 pharmacists will simply log in to the Board’s Licensure Gateway and select from the list of candidates. Questions about the election or Board service in general should be directed to Jay Campbell, the Board’s Executive Director.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

Governor Cooper announced this week that North Carolina will continue to stay paused in the “Safer at Home Phase 2”. As a part of this initiative, the Governor’s executive order expired Friday, July 17, and has been extended for three weeks until Friday, August 7, 2020.

Also in North Carolina. The Board of Pharmacy published a temporary rule that amends regulations under 21 NCAC 46 to establish a list of restricted drugs during the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency. The rule also establishes that pharmacists can fill the prescription drugs on the list only if the prescription bears a written diagnosis from the prescriber consistent with the evidence for its use. This Rule does not apply to prescriptions for a Restricted Drug for a patient previously established on that Restricted Drug on or before March 10, 2020.  The rule is effective June 26 and expires on March 23, 2021.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

SB 808, sponsored by Senator Harry Brown (R) has been signed by Governor Roy Cooper (D). The bill was effective upon signature and makes appropriations for the implementation of the Medicaid Transformation in the state of North Carolina. The bill also verifies Departmental receipts for the 2020-2021 fiscal year to implement the measure and also appropriates such money from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Division of Health benefits to be utilized for Medicaid and NC Health Choice programs to assist with projects related to Medicaid managed care.

Also in North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) issued a Statewide Standing Order for Diagnostic COVID-19 Testing. State Health Director Dr. Betsey Tilson issued a statewide standing order for COVID-19 diagnostic testing as well as a temporary order and associated guidance that, among other things, requires all healthcare providers ordering or conducting COVID-19 diagnostic tests to report all results, positive or negative. NC DHHS also issued patient guidance for isolation and quarantine while waiting for, and after receiving, COVID-19 diagnostic testing results. Additional details and links can be found here.

Also in North Carolina. A qualifying military-trained or military-spouse pharmacist license or pharmacy technician applicant is exempt from the initial application fee. The state has posted FAQs that provide more detail.

Also in North Carolina. The Board of Pharmacy has posted a reminder to all pharmacy and DME permit holders that NABP E-Profile numbers will be required for 2021 renewal. Board Rule .1615 requires all pharmacy and DME permit applicants and holders to obtain and report an e-Profile number issued by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) as a condition of permit issuance or renewal. Details and instructions may be found here.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

The state’s Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Medicaid Assistance has announced that Myers and Stauffer will be conducting a Cost of Dispensing Study which will be utilized to determine the dispensing fee for pharmacists for the North Carolina Medicaid program. The surveys will be mailed on July 7, 2020, and the due date is August 18, 2020.

Also in North Carolina. The General Assembly adjourned this week but will return on September 2, 2020. The adjournment resolution limits activity during the September session to COVID-19 funding issues, appointments, and veto overrides.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

Board Rule .1615 requires all pharmacy and DME permit applicants and holders to obtain and report an e-Profile number issued by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) as a condition of permit issuance or renewal. The renewal period opens on November 1, 2020, all pharmacy and DME permits will be required to provide their business e-Profile number on the renewal application. If a business e-Profile number is not provided, the pharmacy or DME facility will be unable to complete the renewal process. Pharmacies and DME facilities may obtain an e-Profile number without cost. Directions for doing so are found here. A few pharmacists have reached out to the Board and are experiencing technical difficulties obtaining a business e-Profile number from NABP.  The issue seems to arise when a pharmacist uses the same computer, browser, and email address that the pharmacist uses to access their personal e-Profile number. NABP staff have identified that the cookies/cached information of the personal e-Profile log-in as creating the problem. NABP staff recommend the following steps prior to creating a business e-Profile: clear the cookies/cache on your current internet browser, use a different internet browser (Google Chrome and Firefox are preferable), create the business e-profile number with a different email address than the one used for your personal e-profile number. If problems persist, please contact NABP. 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) issued a request for qualifications from vendors to provide COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.   NCDHHS is seeking to create a pool of qualified vendors to support the response to COVID-19 by providing diagnostic and antibody testing including specimen collection and laboratory processing and contact tracing. The RFQ can be found here. The first deadline to respond to the RFQ is 2 p.m. on June 9, 2020. Qualified applicants will be notified on June 17, 2020. This is a rolling qualification process and vendors will be able to submit a response by the first of very month through December. In addition, the NCDHHS anticipates issuing future RFQs for other functions beyond testing, lab capacity and contact tracing. 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

Governor Cooper signed new Executive Order 138. The Executive Order does not lift the stay-at-home order but replaces previous executive orders to begin Phase 1 on Friday, May 8 at 5pm. The order is set to expire on Friday, May 22 at 5pm at which point the Governor will examine whether North Carolina will enter Phase 2. 

Also in North Carolina... The General Assembly convened their scheduled short session last Tuesday, April 28 and quickly approved a pandemic relief package of nearly $1.6 billion that Governor Cooper signed into law on Monday, May 4th. The legislation is effective immediately and included, among other items, language that authorizes pharmacists to administer a COVID-19 vaccine or immunization once one is developed and recommended by the CDC. Two liability protection provisions, one covers health care workers, protecting them from civil and criminal liability as they provide COVID-19 treatment and the second protects any essential business whose employees or customers contract COVID-19.  

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

Governor Cooper has announced the extension of the current stay-at-home Executive Order 121 until May 8,2020 at 5pm and a 3-phase plan for reopening. Executive Order 121 that enacted stay-at-home requirements has been in place since March 30th and was originally scheduled to expire next Thursday, April 30th. This order does not alter any provisions of the previous executive order other than technical changes. 

Also in North Carolina... Effective April 27, 2020, prescriptions for NC Medicaid and NC Health Choice beneficiaries are eligible for the addition of a mailing or delivery fee via the guidelines below. NC Medicaid encourages beneficiaries to request, and pharmacy providers to mail or deliver prescriptions to beneficiaries, during the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve better social distancing within their community. This measure should be considered for all beneficiaries, but especially those that are considered at higher risk for severe COVID-19 illness. For more information please click here. 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services and the State Health Director requested that the Medical Board and the Board of Pharmacy adopt the COVID-19 Drug Preservation Rule in order to alleviate shortages and ensure that these drugs are available to patients who need them.  The Pharmacy Board’s emergency rule is found here.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.