Bill Text: HI HCR142 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 142

Introduced

Bill Title: Urging The Governor And Board Of Pharmacy To Support The Lanai Community Health Center's Telepharmacy Pilot Demonstration And Research Project As A Method Of Expanding The Accessibility And Affordability Of Prescription Drugs To Vulnerable Populations And Rural Communities Throughout The State.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-03 - Referred to HHS. [HCR142 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2024-HCR142-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	142
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

URGING THE GOVERNOR AND BOARD OF PHARMACY TO SUPPORT THE LANAI COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER's TELEPHARMACY pilot demonstration and research project AS A METHOD OF EXPANDING the ACCESSIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS TO VULNERABLE POPULATIONS AND RURAL COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE STATE.

WHEREAS, the State's federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) provide safety net services to underinsured and uninsured individuals throughout Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, these services include the provision of low-cost prescription drugs through the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program (340B); and

WHEREAS, state law prohibits the filling, compounding, or receipt of prescription drugs unless a registered pharmacist is personally and immediately in charge of the pharmacy; and

WHEREAS, because the number of patients of some neighbor island health centers is too small to make employing a full-time pharmacist cost-effective, these health centers provide pharmacy services through contract pharmacies; and

WHEREAS, this solution presents complications because of the small populations of certain neighbor island communities; and

WHEREAS, for example, the only FQHC on the island of Lanai must contract with a pharmacy on the island of Maui for 340B pharmacy services; and

WHEREAS, nevertheless, one FQHC situated in a rural area with a small population desires to add pharmacist services to those already offered to patients; and

WHEREAS, in January 2021, the Lanai Community Health Center (LCHC) received the approval of the Board of Pharmacy to conduct a pilot demonstration and research project for innovative applications in the practice of pharmacy; and

WHEREAS, under this project, a licensed pharmacist located on the island of Maui supervised LCHC staff working at LCHC's campus on the island of Lanai via two-way, real-time, audiovisual telecommunications in the receipt, filling, and dispensing of prescriptions to patients at the LCHC campus; and

WHEREAS, before the pilot project began, the Board of Pharmacy required LCHC to obtain a pharmacy license for its LCHC campus, which necessitated review, inspection, and prior approval by the Board and the Department of Public Safety's Narcotics Enforcement Division to ensure that all controlled substances were adequately secured and monitored at all times; and

WHEREAS, the LCHC telepharmacy pilot project commenced on June 9, 2022, processing 5,838 total prescriptions for 1,124 patients under the pilot project, or a monthly average of 486.5 prescriptions processed as of June 15, 2023; and

WHEREAS, these patients received their prescriptions and refills more quickly than if they had needed to wait for the medications to arrive through the mail; and

WHEREAS, the medications were also less expensive because of LCHC's participation in 340B; and

WHEREAS, because the only retail pharmacy on Lanai is not a 340B participant, the discounts would not otherwise have been available; and

WHEREAS, on June 15, 2023, the Board of Pharmacy informed LCHC that the statutory authority for the Board to conduct the pilot project was not absolute and that at some point, state law must be amended to authorize telepharmacy; and

WHEREAS, based on the success and beneficial results of the pilot project, the innovative practice of telepharmacy should be made permanent and authorized statutorily; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, the Senate concurring, that the Governor and Board of Pharmacy are urged to support the Lanai Community Health Center's telepharmacy pilot demonstration and research project as a method of expanding the accessibility and affordability of prescription drugs to vulnerable populations and rural communities throughout the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chairperson of the Board of Pharmacy is requested to report on the LCHC's telepharmacy pilot demonstration and research project, including expressing an official position on whether the Board recommends that telepharmacy be authorized statutorily; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chairperson of the Board of Pharmacy is requested to submit this report, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Chairperson of the Board of Pharmacy, Mayor of the County of Maui, Interim Executive Director of the Lanai Community Health Center, and Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Primary Care Association.