Protocol · PharmD · District of Columbia
Practice Protocol for Pharmacists in District of Columbia
Required. District of Columbia law names the instrument a Collaborative Practice Agreement, and the clinical protocol is the content that instrument carries. Below: the board that governs it, what it must contain, and the terms it has to carry.
Represents DC's optional pharmacist-physician Collaborative Practice Agreement (CPA) tier under § 3-1202.08, not ordinary pharmacist licensure — base dispensing needs no such agreement and is out of scope here. The CPA is elective for both parties and has no independence pathway once entered.
What a District of Columbia Collaborative Practice Agreement must contain
Governed by the DC Board of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the Collaborative Practice Agreement must satisfy.
The Pharmacist may enter into a written collaborative practice agreement with the Physician authorizing the Pharmacist to initiate, modify, or discontinue a drug therapy regimen for the Physician's patients, as provided by DC Code § 3-1202.08. The DC Board of Pharmacy and DC Board of Medicine have jointly adopted regulations governing the required form, approval, and revocation of such agreements.
Source: DC Code § 3-1202.08
District of Columbia law does not require a pharmacist to enter into a collaborative practice agreement in order to hold a pharmacist license or dispense medications generally; the agreement described in this Agreement is required only if the Pharmacist and the Physician elect to engage in the collaborative drug therapy management described above.
- The Collaborative Practice Agreement also carries 1 scope and 1 registration clauses, authored in the document itself.
Statutes and rules these clauses cite
- DC Code § 3-1202.08statute
Authorizes pharmacist-physician collaborative practice agreements to initiate, modify, or discontinue a drug therapy regimen, and directs the Board of Pharmacy and Board of Medicine to jointly issue implementing regulations.
Terms it has to carry
Ratio, proximity, chart review, meeting and prescribing terms the Collaborative Practice Agreement has to carry, from District of Columbia's supervision rules.
Proximity
Not codified — left to the agreement
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
Not codified — left to the agreement
Prescriptive authority
Covered by the practice agreement · no controlled-substance authority
Under a CPA the pharmacist may initiate, modify or discontinue drug therapy for the physician's patients on the agreement's terms (§ 3-1202.08; 17 DCMR Ch. 100; 22-B DCMR Ch. 10006). This is drug-therapy management under a protocol approved by the Board of Pharmacy and the Board of Medicine, not independent DEA-registered controlled-substance prescribing, so controlled substances are shown as not allowed; whether CPA terms may extend to them is not settled.
Written agreement
Required
Only required if the pharmacist and physician elect to engage in collaborative drug therapy management under § 3-1202.08 — a pharmacist's base license and general dispensing authority need no agreement at all.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Non-licensee ownership permitted — No pharmacist-ownership requirement identified for DC pharmacy permits
Materially more permissive than the healing-arts CPOM regime governing PA/NP/CRNA/CNM/CNS above, if confirmed.
Sources for the supervision rules (2)
- D.C. Code § 3-1202.08 — Board of Pharmacy (collaborative practice agreements)
- 22-B DCMR Ch. 10006 / 17 DCMR Ch. 100 — Collaborative Practice Agreements Between Physicians and Pharmacists
About District of Columbia's rules
The Health Occupations Revision Amendment Act of 2024 repealed D.C. Code § 3-1206.03, removing the collaboration mandate for every APRN category (NP, PMHNP, CRNA, CNM, CNS); DC is now a full-practice-authority jurisdiction for APRNs. PAs are not covered by that reform and still need a Board of Medicine Delegation Agreement regardless of experience.
Other clinicians in District of Columbia: see the state overview.