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MSHP Legislative Update
Submitted by Mary Ann Mulligan, MSHP Legislative Consultant
Health Care Financing Committee List 2007
Public Health Committee List 2007
MSHP Prepares for New 2007-2008 Legislative Session: Collaborative Drug Therapy Management or CDTM Legislation Tops MSHP’s Legislative Agenda
The 2007-2008 Massachusetts Legislative Session is underway and it promises to be extremely busy with over 6000 bills filed for consideration in this two-year session.
MSHP’s top priority for this session is the Collaborative Drug Therapy Management or CDTM legislation entitled, An Act to Establish Collaborative Drug Therapy Management to Improve Pharmaceutical Care for Patients in Massachusetts. The lead sponsors of the CDTM bill are House Public Health Committee Chairman, Peter Koutoujian of Waltham and Senate Health Care Financing Committee Chairman, Richard Moore of Uxbridge. We are still awaiting a formal bill number for the CDTM House and Senate bills but the docket or temporary numbers are Senate #579 and House Docket #2584. Read the CDTM Legislation and the Fact Sheet.
Once the CDTM bill is numbered it will be referred to a Committee for a full public hearing where oral and written testimony will be presented. MSHP is working in collaboration with the major pharmacy organizations in Massachusetts and academia represented by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Northeastern University’s Bouve (Lisa we need French punctuation for Bouve here) College of Health Sciences School of Pharmacy to advocate with the Massachusetts Legislature to secure passage of the CDTM legislation.
Pharmacy Peer Review Law Implementation Date March 2007
The Massachusetts Legislature passed the Pharmacy Peer Review Committee legislation into law at the very end of the 2006 legislative session. The new Peer Review Law known as Chapter 437 of the Acts of 2006 takes effect in March 2007. This law not only provides important peer review procedures for pharmacists and pharmacies, but it also enhances patient safety and error reduction by evaluating the quality of pharmacy services, the competence of pharmacists and suggesting improvements in pharmacy systems designed to enhance patient care.
Read the Peer Review Law.