(1158) Identification of Current Pharmacy Emergency Preparedness and Response Regulations in Individual States

Objectives: In response to the evolving landscape post-pandemic, pharmacy practice regulations and
policies established in 2020 have been undergoing a process of review and revision. These regulations
and policies encompass critical aspects such as state emergency refill protocols and emergency action
plans. Recent developments including the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and the events
preceding Kevin’s Law have affected policies in place for emergency refills, all of which were
implemented post-disasters or tragedies. Furthermore, while framework and observational analyses of the
pharmacist’s role in emergency preparedness have been studied, as well as information on policy changes
post-COVID has been evaluated, not many studies have been done evaluating trends in policies to
identify a proactive policy associated with best outcomes and support. The goals of this project are to
identify: (1) individual state emergency refill policies; (2) individual state disaster/emergency rates
defined by Federal declared disasters; (3) effectiveness of these policies defined by state healthcare costs;
and (4) supportive policies in place defined by insurance coverage for emergency refills. The objective of
this focused review is to identify key trends in existing pharmacy emergency preparedness and response
regulations/policies in individual states in order to create or propose policy change, public health
educational materials, and pharmacy policy changes.

Methods: This scoping regulation/policy review has been conducted from June to October 2023. More
than 30 studies have been evaluated. Literature review was conducted through scientific databases
including Medline, ESBCO, and Google Scholar. Key words to evaluate background emergency
preparedness studies previously conducted include “emergency refills”, “pharmacy preparedness during
disaster”, “pharmacy”, “disaster”, “pharmacy emergency preparedness”, “emergency prescription
assistance program studies”, “studies on effectiveness of pharmacy emergency preparedness response
(PEPR)”. Studies were excluded if those did not evaluate pharmacy roles during disaster response. To
evaluate individual state policies, state boards of pharmacy websites were searched for “emergency
refill”, “emergency dispensing”, or “state of emergency” laws. If websites were unable to show laws
pertaining to emergency refills, further analysis was done on Google utilizing keywords including
“emergency refills per [state]”, “state of emergency per [state]”. Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) website will be used for evaluation of disasters per state. The assessment
of state healthcare costs will be done utilizing CMS health expenditure data and literature reviews of
medical costs post-states of emergency. Evaluation of supportive policies will be done through review of
CMS policies for emergency refill coverage as well as individual state legislation and suggestions. Trends
shall be analyzed by comparing current state laws and healthcare costs.

Results: Forty-one states had readily identifiable laws. Of such, 10 states allowed a maximum emergency refill of 72 hours. Eighteen states allowed emergency refills up to a 30-day supply, while two states offered emergency refills more than 30 days. Further trends are currently under analysis
as data is being collected.

Conclusions: N/A