APhA Policy Manual

APhA supports the development of guidelines or standards to enhance the depiction of the pharmacy profession in all public media.

1. APhA recommends that tobacco products not be sold in pharmacies.
2. APhA recommends that state and local pharmacist associations develop similar policy statements for their membership and increase their involvement in public educational programs regarding the health hazards of smoking.
3. APhA recommends that individual pharmacists give particular attention to educating young people on the health hazards of smoking.
4. APhA recommends that APhA-ASP develop projects aimed at educating young people on the health hazards of smoking, such as visiting schools and conducting health education programs.

1. APhA supports establishment of pharmacy practice-based research networks (PBRNs) to strengthen the evidence base in support of pharmacists’ patient care services.
2. APhA encourages collaborations among stakeholders to determine the minimal infrastructure and resources needed to develop and implement local, regional, and nationwide networks for performing pharmacy practice-based research.
3. APhA encourages pharmacy residency programs to actively participate in pharmacy practice-based research network (PBRNs).

1. APhA urges continued growth in the number of accredited pharmacy residency positions in all practice settings to better meet the future health care needs of the nation.
2. APhA encourages active involvement of schools and colleges of pharmacy in the development and advancement of accredited pharmacy practice residency programs.
3. APhA advocates for the allocation of adequate funding for accredited pharmacy residencies in all practice settings by governmental and other entities.
4. APhA supports postgraduate training for new PharmD graduates.
5. APhA supports accreditation of all pharmacy residency programs by federally recognized accrediting bodies to ensure quality training experiences.

1. APhA encourages the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), in collaboration with state boards of pharmacy, practitioner organizations, and other stakeholders, to develop national standardization among schools and colleges of pharmacy to improve the quality of student pharmacists’ experiential education. This standardization should be adopted by all schools and colleges of pharmacy and should include
   1. a preceptor training program;
   2. a model instrument for preceptors to evaluate student pharmacist performance in required pharmacy practice experiences;
   3. a set of quality indicators for each required pharmacy practice experience; and
   4. a report of quality indicator outcomes made available to all schools and colleges of pharmacy, faculty, and current and prospective students.
2. APhA urges schools and colleges of pharmacy to dedicate adequate and equitable financial and human resources to experiential education.

1. APhA encourages state boards of pharmacy to use the title “student pharmacist” to identify all students enrolled in their professional years of pharmacy education in an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited program.
2. APhA encourages state boards of pharmacy to permit a student pharmacist to perform the duties of a pharmacist within the applicable state’s scope of practice under a pharmacist’s supervision. Preceptors shall consider the experience and education of student pharmacists when providing pharmacy practice opportunities.

APhA recognizes the following definitions with regards to technician licensure and registration:

1. Licensure: The process by which an agency of government grants permission an individual to engage in a given occupation upon finding that the applicant has attained the minimal degree of competency necessary to ensure that the public health, safety, and welfare will be reasonably well protected. Within pharmacy, a pharmacist is licensed by a State Board of Pharmacy.
2. Registration: The process of making a list or being enrolled in an existing list.

APhA supports measures that protect the patient, public, and employees from pharmacy conditions that pose a threat to health.

1. APhA supports inspections of pharmacies and peer review of pharmacists that promote high-quality pharmaceutical service and thereby serve to improve public health.
2. APhA opposes the use of criminal investigative techniques during routine noncriminal pharmacy inspections.
3. APhA supports regulation and inspection by boards of pharmacy of all facilities within a state at which drugs are dispensed, stored, or offered for sale in the same manner as pharmacies.

1. APhA shall work with public and private sectors in developing timely educational processes which assist pharmacists to implement patient care, understand new payment systems, and apply emerging therapeutic advances to achieve desired patient outcomes.
2. APhA supports payment systems that distinguish between compensation for the provision of pharmaceutical care and reimbursement for product distribution.
3. APhA shall participate in the identification, development, and implementation of models for procurement and handling of therapeutic and diagnostic pharmaceutical products and devices which assure the continuous provision of pharmaceutical care by pharmacists.

1. APhA must advocate reform of pharmacy payment systems to enhance the delivery of comprehensive medication-use management services.
2. APhA must assume a leadership role, in cooperation with other pharmacy organizations, patients, other providers of health services, and third-party payers, in developing a payment system reform plan.
3. APhA should encourage universal acceptance of all components of pharmaceutical care and their integration into pharmacy practice to support payment for services.

APhA supports ready access to Internet resources by pharmacists at their practice sites to facilitate delivery of patient care and to support professional development.

APhA opposes the reuse of devices intended for “single use” in the screening and management of patients, consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines.

1. APhA encourages state boards of pharmacy to use the title “student pharmacist” to identify all students enrolled in their professional years of pharmacy education in an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited program.
2. APhA encourages state boards of pharmacy to permit a student pharmacist to perform the duties of a pharmacist within the applicable state’s scope of practice under a pharmacist’s supervision. Preceptors shall consider the experience and education of student pharmacists when providing pharmacy practice opportunities.

1. APhA supports adopting and maintaining continuous quality improvement processes at the national school/college level to identify differences between contemporary pharmacy practice and curriculum offerings, and to provide information and resources to encourage up-to-date curricula.
2. APhA encourages pharmacists to cooperate with schools and colleges of pharmacy by participating as preceptors and permitting their practices to be used as experiential sites.

1. APhA recognizes that pharmacists provide patients cognitive services that may or may not be related to the dispensing or sale of a product.
2. APhA demands payment parity for pharmacists providing patient care services that may or may not be related to the dispensing or sale of a product.

1. APhA encourages state boards of pharmacy to use the title “student pharmacist” to identify all students enrolled in their professional years of pharmacy education in an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited program.
2. APhA encourages state boards of pharmacy to permit a student pharmacist to perform the duties of a pharmacist within the applicable state’s scope of practice under a pharmacist’s supervision. Preceptors shall consider the experience and education of student pharmacists when providing pharmacy practice opportunities.