Pharmacy Ceertification Exam
Overview
The Arizona State Board of Pharmacy (“Board”) has the statutory authority to adopt examinations for pharmacy technicians and its own rules state that the applicant must pass the Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination (“PTCE”) or another Board-approved pharmacy technician examination.
This statutory and regulatory authority creates a Regulatory Pathway for Ascend to follow to seek the Board’s approval of ExCPT as a “Board-approved pharmacy technician examination.”
Process/Timeline
A review of prior agendas and minutes show that the Board approves licensing examinations annually, normally in January. In January 2016, the Board approved PTCE for pharmacy technicians along with three other National Association of Pharmacy Boards …show more content…
(“NAPB”) affiliated tests pertaining to pharmacists.
The next opportunity to have the Board approve ExCPT will be in January 2017. To position ExCPT for a favorable review, we recommend that Ascend begin outreach to the Board and stakeholders this summer. The Board has four remaining meetings in 2016 – May 11 and 12, June 8 and 9, August 14 and 25, and November 16 and 17 – and Ascend should target either the August or November meeting for a formal presentation to the Board describing ExCPT and request that it approve ExCPT at the January 2017 meeting.
Composition
The Board consists of nine total members – six pharmacists, one pharmacy technician and two public members. The Board annually selects a president and vice-president. The current members of the Board are:
Darren Kennedy, President (pharmacist)
Thomas Van Hassel, Vice-President (pharmacist)
Michael Blaire (pharmacist)
Kevin Dang (pharmacist)
William Francis (pharmacist)
Kyra Locnikar (public member)
Dennis McAllister (pharmacist)
Reuben Minkus (public member)
Kristen Snair (pharmacy technician)
Since ExCPT was last discussed by the Board in 2008, the Board has seen significant turnover. Only two members, Dennis McAllister and Thomas Van Hassel, continue to serve today. The Board also has new staff leadership. In May 2015, Kam Gandhi, PharmD, was selected as Executive Director and replaced long-time Executive Director Hal Wand. Gandhi previously served as president of the Nevada Board of Pharmacy and worked as a district manager for Albertson’s pharmacies.
Legislative Pathway
Overview
The Arizona State Legislature (“Legislature”) can also dictate the list of examinations for pharmacy technicians. If the Regulatory Pathway is not successful, Triadvocates would propose to introduce legislation explicitly authorizing ExCPT as a Board-approved examination.
Process/Timeline
The Legislature meets annually and starts each year on the second Monday in January, which will be January 9, 2017. A full array of policy bills is discussed and a state budget is approved each year.
There is no constitutional end date to the Legislature, however, the Legislature’s rules state that it is to end during the week of the 100th day. This is normally mid-April, but this rule can be extended by a majority vote. While not a recent trend, a session well past the 100th day has been common over the last two decades.
Other deadlines exist within the session, such as bill introduction deadlines and committee hearing deadlines, to ensure that it moves along with work. These deadlines are traditionally adhered to and we can provide a list once they are available closer to the start of the 2017 session.
Composition
The Legislature consists of a Senate with 30 members and a House of Representatives (“House”) with 60 members. Republicans have held the majority in both chambers since 2002 and currently hold an 18 seat to 12 seat majority in the Senate and a 36 seat to 24 seat majority in the House.
This November, all 90 seats will be on the General Election ballot. The Republican majorities are expected to continue but we will have a new Senate President and House Speaker as well as majority leadership teams in both chambers and new committees and committee chairman.
Message Platform
A controlled and consistent message is essential to any public affairs strategy. To ensure that the message is controlled and consistent, a message platform will be deployed as part of the Regulatory and Legislative Pathways. The message platform will also guide the development of collaterals, such as talking points and white papers, and will include the following messages:
Quality
ExCPT is designed by industry experts and adheres to rigorous psychometric principles, which are reviewed regularly by a team of psychometricians at Ascend.
It is also accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (“NCCA”), which shows that it has been independently verified to meet current standards of practice for certifying examinations. NCCA accreditation is a “third party validator” for quality and NAPB, which has a business affiliation with PTCE, has affirmed the value of NCCA accreditation in its communications to state boards of pharmacy. It its Model Pharmacy Act of 2015, NAPB states that a licensing examination must be “developed using nationally recognized and validated psychometric and pharmacy practice standards…” With NCCA accreditation and its embedded psychometric principles, ExCPT meets the requirements of NAPB’s own recommended …show more content…
guidelines.
Additionally, of the 39 states that require an examination as part of the licensure process for pharmacy technicians, 29 states allow ExCPT including three of Arizona’s adjacent neighbors – New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. The fact that a vast majority of states that require an examination as part of its licensure guidelines allow ExCPT shows that the marketplace has accepted ExCPT as a quality examination for pharmacy technicians. Further, a recent study done by the State of California shows that both ExCPT and PTCE meet industry guidelines and technical standards.
Demand
Over the next decade, industry analysts expect the demand for pharmacy technicians to grown between 9 and 20%, which exceeds the national average job growth for all economic sectors. This above average growth is due to an increase in America’s retired population, scientific advances that will increase the number of pharmaceutical treatments of disease, and an expected increase in the scope of practice for pharmacy technicians. Having additional testing options will be necessary to license pharmacy technicians as that supply matches expected demand.
Innovation
Governor Doug Ducey, along with the Board, pride themselves on a reputation of innovation.
ExCPT is offered in more locations and at more times than PTCE. ExCPT is offered at nine locations throughout Arizona, including locations in rural Arizona, while PTCE is offered at just three locations in urban Arizona. [CONFIRM] Additionally, ExCPT offers more than 300 test dates versus only four testing windows for PTCE [CONFIRM].
[OTHER INNOVATIONS PROVIDED BY ASCEND]
Local Ties
Ascend, ExCPT’s parent company has a footprint in Arizona by employing approximately 120 Arizonans, most of which are located in Chandler. [CONFIRM TAX STATISTICS $20M?] Ascend is currently looking to expand its Arizona footprint by approximately 30 individuals.
Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder groups can serve as allies, third-party validators, or, conversely, third-party detractors. As part of both the Regulatory and Legislative Pathways, we will want to seek the support of groups that could be used as allies and validators and neutralize the groups that could be detractors.
Retail
Pharmacies
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
Arizona Governor’s Office
Dennis McAllister, Member, Arizona State Board of Pharmacy
The Arizona State Board of Pharmacy (“Board”) has the statutory authority to adopt examinations for pharmacy technicians and its own rules state that the applicant must pass the Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination (“PTCE”) or another Board-approved pharmacy technician examination.
This statutory and regulatory authority creates a Regulatory Pathway for Ascend to follow to seek the Board’s approval of ExCPT as a “Board-approved pharmacy technician examination.”
Process/Timeline
A review of prior agendas and minutes show that the Board approves licensing examinations annually, normally in January. In January 2016, the Board approved PTCE for pharmacy technicians along with three other National Association of Pharmacy Boards …show more content…
(“NAPB”) affiliated tests pertaining to pharmacists.
The next opportunity to have the Board approve ExCPT will be in January 2017. To position ExCPT for a favorable review, we recommend that Ascend begin outreach to the Board and stakeholders this summer. The Board has four remaining meetings in 2016 – May 11 and 12, June 8 and 9, August 14 and 25, and November 16 and 17 – and Ascend should target either the August or November meeting for a formal presentation to the Board describing ExCPT and request that it approve ExCPT at the January 2017 meeting.
Composition
The Board consists of nine total members – six pharmacists, one pharmacy technician and two public members. The Board annually selects a president and vice-president. The current members of the Board are:
Darren Kennedy, President (pharmacist)
Thomas Van Hassel, Vice-President (pharmacist)
Michael Blaire (pharmacist)
Kevin Dang (pharmacist)
William Francis (pharmacist)
Kyra Locnikar (public member)
Dennis McAllister (pharmacist)
Reuben Minkus (public member)
Kristen Snair (pharmacy technician)
Since ExCPT was last discussed by the Board in 2008, the Board has seen significant turnover. Only two members, Dennis McAllister and Thomas Van Hassel, continue to serve today. The Board also has new staff leadership. In May 2015, Kam Gandhi, PharmD, was selected as Executive Director and replaced long-time Executive Director Hal Wand. Gandhi previously served as president of the Nevada Board of Pharmacy and worked as a district manager for Albertson’s pharmacies.
Legislative Pathway
Overview
The Arizona State Legislature (“Legislature”) can also dictate the list of examinations for pharmacy technicians. If the Regulatory Pathway is not successful, Triadvocates would propose to introduce legislation explicitly authorizing ExCPT as a Board-approved examination.
Process/Timeline
The Legislature meets annually and starts each year on the second Monday in January, which will be January 9, 2017. A full array of policy bills is discussed and a state budget is approved each year.
There is no constitutional end date to the Legislature, however, the Legislature’s rules state that it is to end during the week of the 100th day. This is normally mid-April, but this rule can be extended by a majority vote. While not a recent trend, a session well past the 100th day has been common over the last two decades.
Other deadlines exist within the session, such as bill introduction deadlines and committee hearing deadlines, to ensure that it moves along with work. These deadlines are traditionally adhered to and we can provide a list once they are available closer to the start of the 2017 session.
Composition
The Legislature consists of a Senate with 30 members and a House of Representatives (“House”) with 60 members. Republicans have held the majority in both chambers since 2002 and currently hold an 18 seat to 12 seat majority in the Senate and a 36 seat to 24 seat majority in the House.
This November, all 90 seats will be on the General Election ballot. The Republican majorities are expected to continue but we will have a new Senate President and House Speaker as well as majority leadership teams in both chambers and new committees and committee chairman.
Message Platform
A controlled and consistent message is essential to any public affairs strategy. To ensure that the message is controlled and consistent, a message platform will be deployed as part of the Regulatory and Legislative Pathways. The message platform will also guide the development of collaterals, such as talking points and white papers, and will include the following messages:
Quality
ExCPT is designed by industry experts and adheres to rigorous psychometric principles, which are reviewed regularly by a team of psychometricians at Ascend.
It is also accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (“NCCA”), which shows that it has been independently verified to meet current standards of practice for certifying examinations. NCCA accreditation is a “third party validator” for quality and NAPB, which has a business affiliation with PTCE, has affirmed the value of NCCA accreditation in its communications to state boards of pharmacy. It its Model Pharmacy Act of 2015, NAPB states that a licensing examination must be “developed using nationally recognized and validated psychometric and pharmacy practice standards…” With NCCA accreditation and its embedded psychometric principles, ExCPT meets the requirements of NAPB’s own recommended …show more content…
guidelines.
Additionally, of the 39 states that require an examination as part of the licensure process for pharmacy technicians, 29 states allow ExCPT including three of Arizona’s adjacent neighbors – New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. The fact that a vast majority of states that require an examination as part of its licensure guidelines allow ExCPT shows that the marketplace has accepted ExCPT as a quality examination for pharmacy technicians. Further, a recent study done by the State of California shows that both ExCPT and PTCE meet industry guidelines and technical standards.
Demand
Over the next decade, industry analysts expect the demand for pharmacy technicians to grown between 9 and 20%, which exceeds the national average job growth for all economic sectors. This above average growth is due to an increase in America’s retired population, scientific advances that will increase the number of pharmaceutical treatments of disease, and an expected increase in the scope of practice for pharmacy technicians. Having additional testing options will be necessary to license pharmacy technicians as that supply matches expected demand.
Innovation
Governor Doug Ducey, along with the Board, pride themselves on a reputation of innovation.
ExCPT is offered in more locations and at more times than PTCE. ExCPT is offered at nine locations throughout Arizona, including locations in rural Arizona, while PTCE is offered at just three locations in urban Arizona. [CONFIRM] Additionally, ExCPT offers more than 300 test dates versus only four testing windows for PTCE [CONFIRM].
[OTHER INNOVATIONS PROVIDED BY ASCEND]
Local Ties
Ascend, ExCPT’s parent company has a footprint in Arizona by employing approximately 120 Arizonans, most of which are located in Chandler. [CONFIRM TAX STATISTICS $20M?] Ascend is currently looking to expand its Arizona footprint by approximately 30 individuals.
Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder groups can serve as allies, third-party validators, or, conversely, third-party detractors. As part of both the Regulatory and Legislative Pathways, we will want to seek the support of groups that could be used as allies and validators and neutralize the groups that could be detractors.
Retail
Pharmacies
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy
Arizona Governor’s Office
Dennis McAllister, Member, Arizona State Board of Pharmacy