Pharmacy practice acts: A decade of progress

OBJECTIVE: This 10-year follow-up study of previously published surveys of pharmacy practice acts examines 50 state and the District of Columbia pharm acy practice acts to assess the range of statutory definitions and determin e the direction and magnitude of statutory changes since 1988. DATA SOURCES: State codes for 50 states and the District of Columbia, with attention focused on the pharmacy practice acts; Puerto Rico and thr Virgin Islands were excluded. DATA EXTRACTION: The focus on each statute was the statutory definition of the "practice of pharmacy." DATA SYNTHESIS: Comparing 1998 with 1988, codification of interpreting and evaluating prescriptions increased 22% (1998; 39/47, four states contain no definition of the practice of pharmacy), compounding 8% (47/47), consultat ion 19% (41/47), dispensing 2.5% (47/47), drug administration threefold (24 /47), drug product selection twofold (45/47), drug utilization review 70% ( 35/47), patient assessment 6.5-fold (6/47), pharmacokinetic services threef old (3/47), pharmacist prescribing 4.6-fold (15/47), and participation in d rug research 10.5-fold(10/47). CONCLUSIONS: Since 1988, state pharmacy practice acts have increased the co dification of pharmaceutical care services as integral pharmacy functions. Although substantial progress has been made over the past decade, a number of states have not incorporated definitions of pharmaceutical care function s into their state statutes. Enactment of the National Association Boards o f Pharmacy Model State Pharmacy Act is one way for pharmacists' practice to expand with the evolution of the practice of pharmacy.