[QUOTE "Sine Cura, post: 19154291, member: 310012"]In California, you don't need to be licensed as a pharmacy technician to do data entry...." /QUOTE]
Thank you for your research and for quoting the law. I would like to focus on a section of the law you quoted:
"require the transfer to be “communicated directly” between the sending and receiving pharmacist.....Communicate by use of a facsimile transmission directed to the pharmacist involved in the transfer."
Above is the quote from law authority and here is my friendly discussion:
This means to me pharmacist can print prescription record and then fax. The record is faxed as legal script like physician's order. No mistake can happen here.
Why can't I delegate the time consuming task of faxing a hardcopy to my assistant to fax ? I have reasonable trust that asking a clerk to fax a hardcopy will maintain the integrity of the hardcopy to the other fax machine.
What is so hard about faxing a hardcopy that my assistant can not handle?
This is the same assistant, the non-licensed clerk, that the law allows to touch and count my money, type scripts, pick drug from database to generate labels. If this assistant picks wrong drug from database, the patient may die if I don't catch the mistake. The law allows this clerk to pick drug from database to make label that may kill someone and we don't like to ask this same clerk to fax my hardcopy? I was clerk in California for 2 year before becoming pharmacist and as a clerk who had no license, I could do nearly everything like a licensed technician except the law did not allow clerk to do 1 special action, the law did not allow clerk to manipulate or package drug. Law book states that only "pharmacy technician may perform packaging". The law does not allow clerk to package drug which was interpreted as: clerk is not allowed to count drug at retail pharmacy (not making IV bag at hospital or compound drug at compounding pharmacy.)
Here is the link to get law book, the clerk is called "
non-licensed person", page 298, quoted here, law book included below:
"1793.3. Other
Non-Licensed Pharmacy Personnel.
(a) In addition to employing a pharmacy technician to perform the tasks
specified in section 1793.2, a pharmacy may employ a
non-licensed person to
type a prescription label or otherwise enter prescription information into a
computer record system, but the responsibility for the accuracy of the
prescription information and the prescription as dispensed lies with the
registered pharmacist who initials the prescription or prescription record."
See? non-licensed person can type script into computer and make label which can be wrong which can kill and non-licensed person can not fax a hardcopy from computer?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjR4rep7K7VAhUDslQKHeMAD5MQFghZMAA&url=http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/laws_regs/lawbook.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFzVQ4kr2Rft9ZoLxMj9DM7iW7cXg
How can faxing a hardcopy kill someone? I am sure picking wrong drug makes wrong label which has 50 percent chance of killing someone if I don't catch the mistake.
One thing to support your stand though: the law keeps mentioning about "direct supervision" of pharmacist meaning, pharmacist must be within near distance of same physical area, not far in different building. For the other pharmacy to employ clerk to fax without pharmacist in near proximity, the pharmacy may violate pharmacy law. That's the possible violation I am thinking about.
Still, please tell me what's so hard about faxing a hardcopy that a pharmacist must fax to a pharmacist? I still prefer delegating that to my assistants. Please tell me, dear pharmacy board inspector, I am curious.