Protocol · PharmD · Illinois
Practice Protocol for Pharmacists in Illinois
Illinois does not define a named protocol for Pharmacists. Here is what the state does require and what a written protocol usually covers.
Represents Illinois's collaborative pharmacy practice tier under the Pharmacy Practice Act (225 ILCS 85), not ordinary licensure; base dispensing needs no agreement and is out of scope here. The current mechanics of the framework, after the Collaborative Pharmaceutical Task Force created by P.A. 100-0497, should be checked against the Act's current text.
What a Pharmacist protocol must contain in Illinois
Illinois requires a written protocol but gives it no statutory name. Governed by the Illinois Board of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a requirement the protocol must satisfy.
No general requirement that the Pharmacist enter into a physician-specific collaborative practice agreement in order to practice pharmacy was identified under the Illinois Pharmacy Practice Act, 225 ILCS 85; the Pharmacist practices under the Pharmacist's own license issued by IDFPR.
Where the Pharmacist performs services such as administering vaccines, or dispensing self-administered hormonal contraceptives or opioid antagonists, they does so under statewide standing orders or protocols established by Illinois statute or IDFPR rule, not under an individualized agreement naming the Physician as a collaborating physician. This Agreement's terms regarding the Pharmacist accordingly define the working relationship, referral pathways, and communication expectations between the Parties, and are not themselves required by Illinois law as a condition of the Pharmacist's authority to practice or to act under any such statewide standing order.
- The protocol also carries 1 education and 1 registration clauses, authored in the document itself.
Terms it has to carry
Ratio, proximity, chart review, meeting and prescribing terms the protocol has to carry, from Illinois'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
Whether Illinois's collaborative pharmacy practice framework extends to controlled substances is not settled in the statute; treat it as uncertain rather than assuming a specific scope.
Written agreement
Required
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Non-licensee ownership permitted — Illinois pharmacy licensure does not require pharmacist ownership of the licensed pharmacy business; a licensed pharmacist-in-charge retains professional control over dispensing (225 ILCS 85).
Sources for the supervision rules (2)
About Illinois's rules
The 2017 Nurse Practice Act reform (P.A. 100-0513) lets NP/CNM/CNS attest to full practice authority after 4,000 hours under a written collaborative agreement plus 250 hours of CE — CRNAs are not included in that attestation pathway. The Medical Corporation Act (805 ILCS 15) restricts clinical-entity ownership to physicians; APRNs/PAs may still use a professional service corporation or PLLC of their own licensees.
Other clinicians in Illinois: see the state overview.