This bill makes various changes affecting collaborative drug therapy agreements between certain health care practitioners and pharmacists. Specifically, it:

1. expands the types of practitioners authorized to enter into these agreements to include any prescribing practitioner or caregiving institution (“providers”), instead of only state-licensed physicians and advanced practice registered nurses;
2. expands the types of authorized arrangements between pharmacists and providers to include collaborative drug therapy management policies between pharmacists and caregiving institutions, instead of only collaborative drug therapy agreements between pharmacists and prescribing practitioners;
3. expands pharmacists’ authority under these arrangements to include (a) managing drug therapy for patient populations, instead of only individual patients, (b) managing a therapeutic class of drugs, instead of only specified drugs, and (c) managing prescribed medical devices; and
4. requires the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) commissioner to amend regulations on pharmacist qualifications and requirements for these arrangements to include competency requirements and requirements for the minimum content of these arrangements.

Under the bill, “prescribing practitioners” are practitioners licensed in Connecticut or another U.S. jurisdiction who have prescriptive authority under their professional scope of practice. “Care-giving institutions” are institutions that provide medical services and are licensed, operated, certified, or approved by the commissioners of public health (DPH), developmental services, or mental health and addiction services (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, or assisted living facilities).