21 NCAC 46 .1420             STANDARDIZED ORDERS

(a)  This Rule applies if a Health Care Facility has developed a set of standardized orders for its patients. As used in this Rule, standardized orders are pre-established written protocols that allow authorized practitioners at the Health Care Facility to administer medications to a patient who meets defined criteria.

(b)  A pharmacist-manager of a Health Care Facility Pharmacy may establish which of those standardized orders are safe and effective for all patients presenting a set of predetermined criteria established by the pharmacist-manager. Those orders must be safe and effective for all patients presenting those criteria, regardless of any drugs, supplements, or other substances that might have been consumed by any patient. Any standardized orders so designated by the pharmacist-manager may be dispensed by the pharmacy to a Health Care Facility patient without any patient-specific drug regimen review being performed by the pharmacist.

(c)  The pharmacist-manager must maintain policies and procedures sufficient to identify the standardized orders and the criteria for issuing those standardized orders, as well as the process by which those orders are to be dispensed. The pharmacist-manager must also keep records of all dispensing pursuant to this Rule, including the authorized practitioner's determination that the standardized order was appropriate and documentation that any criteria have been met.

(d)  This Rule does not apply to outpatient pharmacies or to drugs dispensed pursuant to 21 NCAC 46 .1415.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 90-18.1; 90-18.2; 90-85.6; 90-85.21; 90-85.26; 90-85.33; 90-85.34;

Eff. September 1, 2026.