What's happening
This bill allows pharmacies to store and dispense prescribed medications in automated dispensing machines at nursing homes and residential health care facilities.
Why it matters
Improves medication access and safety for residents. Allowing automated dispensing machines in nursing homes and residential health care facilities can reduce delays in getting medications to patients, which can be critical for timely care and for managing complex medication regimens.
Reduces potential for medication errors. Automated dispensing systems can help minimize human errors in medication dispensing, tracking, and administration, which is especially important in settings where patients may have multiple prescriptions or require frequent dose changes.
Eases burden on facility staff and pharmacies. By streamlining medication storage and dispensing, the bill could allow nurses and staff to spend less time managing medications and more time on direct patient care, while also enabling pharmacies to serve multiple facilities more efficiently.
Enhances regulatory oversight and accountability. Requiring pharmacies to register with the state and have formal contracts with facilities for automated dispensing creates a clear framework for oversight, helping ensure these systems are used appropriately and securely.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Allow Pharmacy Medicine Machines
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
2 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to higher education
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.1044
- Referred to higher education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Allow Pharmacy Dispensing Machines
In Assembly Committee · Higher Education · Sponsor Richard Gottfried
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6011
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to permitting pharmacies to store prescribed medications in automated dispensing machines
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 6802 of the education law, as amended by chapter 538 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:
1. "Pharmacy" means (a) any place in which drugs, prescriptions or poisons are possessed for the purpose of compounding, preserving, dispensing or retailing, or in which drugs, prescriptions or poisons are compounded, preserved, dispensed or retailed, or in which such drugs, prescriptions or poisons are by advertising or otherwise offered for sale at retail[.]; and (b) a pharmacy registered by the department, and based upon a contractual arrangement with a nursing home or residential health care facility as defined in section twenty-eight hundred one of the public health law, may store prescribed medications at such facility in an automated dispensing machine and dispense such medications for the sole use of the facility's residents.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11860-02-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to permitting pharmacies to store prescribed medications in automated dispensing machines
Purpose or general idea of bill
To permit prescription medication storage by long term care pharmacies, who have contracts with nursing homes, in an automated dispensing machine in those nursing homes, as has been the practice for over ten years.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends section 6802 of the education law to clarify in the definition of pharmacy that a pharmacy who has a contractual arrangement with a nursing home or residential health care facility may store prescribed medications at such facility in an automated dispensing machine and dispense such medication for the sole use of the facility's residents.
Section 2 provides an immediate effective date.
Justification
Long term care pharmacies are specially designed to contract with and supply medications of all kinds to nursing homes. In New York most nurs- ing homes use the services of long term care pharmacies. Over the last ten to fifteen years, automated dispensing machines (ADM) have become an integral part of the nursing home care model. These ADMs are installed in more than 200 nursing homes throughout the state to make sure that nursing homes can quickly fill and access the prescriptions for medica- tions for the patients they care for. Without these machines on site, patients must wait for a long term care pharmacy to physically deliver the medications.
Recently, the NYS Board of Pharmacy in the State Education Department has changed its policy and legislation is needed to clarify that ADMs can be used for their intended purposes in New York State. The use of ADMs in nursing homes was approved by the federal drug enforcement agen- cy in 2005 so that controlled substances can be dispensed through these machines.
Technology such as ADMs in nursing homes ensures that patients can receive the medications they are prescribed quickly and efficiently and avoid unnecessary hospitalizations or readmissions.
Prior legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
Immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.