California bill would accord pharmacists provider status

Abstract

A bill to recognize California pharmacists as “health care providers who have the authority to provide health care services” was introduced on February 21 in the state senate and amended on April 1. “There’s the potential it could be signed by the governor in September,” said Dawn Benton, executive vice president of the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP), a cosponsor of the bill. “It could move fast,” she said, “or it could turn into a two-year bill.” The bill, which Benton said CSHP wrote with the California Pharmacists Association, would allow pharmacists to In addition, the bill would create the designation “advanced practice pharmacist.” Such a pharmacist would be allowed to Senator Ed Hernandez, an optometrist, introduced the bill as part of a threesome on health care providers. The three bills seek to expand the scopes of practice for optometrists, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists. California, according to Hernandez, already has a “serious” shortage of primary care providers.