Protocol · PharmD · Tennessee
Practice Protocol for Pharmacists in Tennessee
Required. Tennessee law names the instrument a Collaborative Pharmacy 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.
Tennessee has some form of collaborative or protocol-based pharmacy practice authority under Title 63, Chapter 10; its current specifics (agreement requirements, controlled-substance scope, any ratio cap) are not well documented, so treat this entry as less certain than most.
What a Tennessee Collaborative Pharmacy Practice Agreement must contain
Governed by the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy. Each numbered item is a statutory requirement the Collaborative Pharmacy Practice Agreement must satisfy.
The Pharmacist shall practice pursuant to a written Collaborative Pharmacy Practice Agreement ("Agreement") with the Physician, as authorizing physician, as required by Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-10-217 and Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1140-03-.17. Each collaborating provider must hold an active, unencumbered Tennessee license and maintain at least one million dollars ($1,000,000) in professional liability insurance coverage per occurrence for as long as the Agreement remains in effect.
Source: Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1140-03-.17 (Collaborative Pharmacy Practice)
A written attestation identifying the collaborating providers, the effective date, and the scope of services covered shall be filed with the licensing boards of all participating providers no later than thirty (30) days after the Agreement's effective date, and the patient or the patient's authorized representative must sign a general consent to receive services from a health care team that includes a pharmacist.
- The Collaborative Pharmacy Practice Agreement also carries 1 scope, 1 education, 1 registration and 2 authority clauses, authored in the document itself.
Statutes and rules these clauses cite
- Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1140-03-.17 (Collaborative Pharmacy Practice)board rule
Tennessee Board of Pharmacy rule implementing Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-10-217, governing collaborative pharmacy practice agreements: required elements, filing, quality assessment, review and renewal.
Terms it has to carry
Ratio, proximity, chart review, meeting and prescribing terms the Collaborative Pharmacy Practice Agreement has to carry, from Tennessee'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
No Tennessee provision authorizes independent controlled-substance prescribing by a pharmacist under a collaborative agreement, so controlled substances are shown as not allowed.
Written agreement
Required
Tennessee's pharmacy practice act is understood to include a collaborative-agreement or protocol mechanism; its current form, scope, and whether it grants any controlled-substance authority should be confirmed with the Board of Pharmacy.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Non-licensee ownership permitted — No pharmacist-ownership requirement identified for a general pharmacy permit; presumed permissive, consistent with most states
Sources for the supervision rules (1)
- Tenn. Code Ann. Title 63, Chapter 10 — Pharmacy
About Tennessee's rules
TN is a restricted-practice state for NPs — no independence pathway exists. Physicians must personally review ≥20% of an APRN's charts every 30 days (100% of controlled-substance charts) and visit remote practice sites in person every 30 days. TN has an explicit, unambiguous corporate-practice-of-medicine ban (statute, case law, and AG opinions; TCA § 63-6-204) — a professional corporation may practice only a single profession.
Other clinicians in Tennessee: see the state overview.