1. (1) To participate in a TCT program, a pharmacy must be licensed by the board as an institutional pharmacy or a community pharmacy and must submit an application for an endorsement on the pharmacy’s license, renew the endorsement annually, and submit a description of the types of services that will be provided through the TCT program. There is no cost for the endorsement.
2. (2) No medications utilized in a TCT program, as defined in 37-7-101, MCA, may be administered or dispensed to a patient without the prescription drug order or chart order first being reviewed by a licensed pharmacist for clinical evaluation and drug utilization.
3. (3) Pursuant to the definition of “pharmacy technician” in 37-7-101, MCA, a pharmacist may delegate tasks to a certified pharmacy technician, a provisional pharmacy technician (not yet certified), or a pharmacist intern through a TCT program who may be used to perform tasks associated with the physical preparation and processing of prescription drug orders or chart orders. In delegating these activities, the supervising pharmacist shall ensure that authorized activities do not include tasks which require a pharmacist’s clinical evaluation or independent professional judgment.

4. (4) The TCT program may include a second certified pharmacy technician or a pharmacist intern who verifies the work of the first pharmacy technician (certified or provisional) or pharmacist intern to:

   1. (a) perform final product verification, excluding compounded products;
   2. (b) utilize bar code or other technology to perform verification of each medication product stored in a unit dose cart or automated pharmacy system when such medication will be administered to the patient by a licensed health care professional; and
   3. (c) verify repackaging of medications from bulk to unit dose for administration or dispensing.
5. (5) For any TCT program, a second verification of work cannot be performed by a provisional pharmacy technician.

6. (6) The written policies and procedures must identify how technicians will be utilized in a TCT program, describe steps for safe and accurate filling and labeling of prescription drug orders and chart orders, and specifically describe the participating technician’s training, education, competencies, and experiences related to the TCT program activities. In addition, the TCT program policies and procedures must:

   1. (a) include and maintain a current record of a technician’s training who participates in the TCT program;
   2. (b) reflect current activities and be reviewed annually;
   3. (c) be available for inspection by the board;
   4. (d) include the review of all quality related events or errors with documentation of corrective action measures pursuant to the quality assurance program requirements in ARM 24.174.407; and
   5. (e) identify specific monitoring, review, and quality assurance parameters instituted if high-risk or high-alert medications are used in the TCT program. Additional information is available on the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) website at https://home.ecri.org/pages/ismp.

Authorizing statute(s): 37-7-201, MCA

Implementing statute(s): 37-7-101, 37-7-201, 37-7-301, 37-7-307, MCA

History: NEW, 2007 MAR p. 1936, Eff. 11/22/07; AMD, 2025 MAR, Notice No. 2025-206, Eff. 12/6/25.