Section 856IAC1-26-1. Continuing professional education; general requirements; definitions

   (a) The following definitions apply throughout this rule:

(1) "Continuing professional education" or "continuing education" means accredited postlicensure professional educational experience derived from participation in postgraduate studies, institutes, seminars, lectures, conferences, workshops, and such other forms of educational experiences so as to maintain the professional competency of the practice of pharmacy, improve pharmacy professional skills, and preserve pharmaceutical standards for the purpose of the protection of the health and welfare of the citizens of Indiana.

(2) "Hours" means measurement of value applied to a particular accredited continuing pharmacy educational activity as assigned by the Indiana board of pharmacy (board) relative to maintaining the competency of a pharmacist.

(3) "Contact hour" means not less than fifty (50) nor more than sixty (60) minutes of clock time participating in a continuing education program.

(4) "Continuing education unit" or "CEU" means ten (10) contact hours of continuing education credit.

(5) "Approved by ACPE" means pharmacy continuing education providers that meet the requirements of "The ACPE Continuing Education Provider Approval Program Criteria for Quality and Interpretive Guidelines" as published by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education, Inc., Chicago, Illinois on July 1991.

  (b) In order to qualify for licensure renewal, a pharmacist must meet the continuing professional education requirements as follows:

(1) Thirty (30) hours (three (3) CEUs) of continuing education as required by this rule shall be required each biennium.

(2) No hours may be carried forward from one (1) biennium to another. However, if a pharmacist fails to meet the requirements of this rule during the biennial period, the pharmacist may earn and report sufficient hours during a succeeding biennium and apply the continuing education hours retroactively to the previous biennium as if they had been earned in that previous biennium in order to qualify for renewal of the pharmacist's license. In the event a pharmacist applies credits to a previous biennium for the reasons stated in this section, those credits may not be used for any other biennium.

(3) All continuing education program hours from sponsors not approved by ACPE must be evaluated and accepted by the board.

(4) Continuing education biennium shall be that time period consisting of January 1 of all even-numbered years through December 31 of the following odd-numbered year.

  (c) Accredited continuing education hours may be compiled in the following ways if the sponsor grants the participant a certificate of completion:

(1) Cassette and audio-visual presentation.

(2) In-company professional seminars.

(3) Accredited school of pharmacy continuing education programs.

(4) Postgraduate courses in pharmaceutical sciences.

(5) Correspondence courses.

(6) Programs granted continuing education credit by other states.

(7) Continuing education television series.

(8) Programs sponsored by professional groups in public health provider services.

(9) Professional society and association sponsored program.

(10) Approved business, management, and computer courses.

(11) Programs of sponsors approved by ACPE.

  (d) Accredited continuing education hours may be compiled from other programs and experiences if they are evaluated and accepted by the board as meeting the definition of continuing professional education as found in subsection (a)(1).

  (e) As provided in subsection (b)(3), continuing education sponsors (hereinafter referred to as sponsors) are responsible for submitting continuing education programs to the board for approval in addition to the following:

(1) A sponsor shall be any person, school, association, or corporation who develops a continuing education program.

(2) The continuing education program must receive approval of the board for final acceptance.

(3) If a sponsor wishes to notify prospective participants in advance of the value (in hours or in CEUs) of a program, the content of the program shall be submitted to the board for evaluation. If the sponsor does not submit the content for evaluation, the sponsor shall note in all material relevant to the program that it has not been evaluated and the hours of credit listed are subject to review by the board.

(4) Sponsors shall receive written notice from the board for approval or disapproval from the board. Approved programs shall be given an identification number stating the year and hourly value.

(5) Program changes must be made to and accepted by the board or the evaluation and acceptance of the program becomes null and void.

(6) Continuing education credit may be granted only once for each program to any individual participant.

(7) Any member of the board shall have the right to attend and participate in any continuing education program.

(8) Programs may be evaluated after presentation or participation if a written request is made to the board within ninety (90) days of the date of presentation.

(9) Sponsors shall retain a file of participants' program completion for four (4) years.

(10) When applying to the board for credit, sponsors shall supply the following information on the application for continuing education course approval, supplied by the board:

(A) Name and address of applicant.

(B) Program title.

(C) Location, date, and time of program.

(D) Sponsoring organization.

(E) Type of program.

(F) Name and qualification of each speaker.

(G) Three (3) learning objectives for the program.

(H) Contact hours of the course.

(I) Method for evaluating the program.

  (f) Pharmacists licensed with the board (hereinafter called participants) have the following responsibilities:

(1) Obtain a minimum of thirty (30) hours of continuing education per biennium unless first licensed during the biennium which would make those newly licensed individuals subject to subdivision (5):

(A) a maximum of one-fifth (¹/₅) of the total hours may be business, management, or computer courses;

(B) at least four-fifths (⁴/₅) of the total hours must be pharmacy practice related; and

(C) at least one-half (½) of the total hours must be provided by sponsors approved by ACPE.

(2) Report program name, identification number, and approved hours of continuing education to the board at the time of license renewal.

(3) Retain a file of certificates of completion for four (4) years from the end of the biennium for which the continuing education applied in order to provide copies of certificates upon request for the board's periodic audit of continuing education compliance.

(4) Earn one and one-fourth (1.25) hours of continuing education credit for each month or part of a month from date of licensure until the end of the biennium in which licensure originates if the pharmacist becomes licensed during the biennium. However, a pharmacist who becomes newly licensed for the first time in any state in the last six (6) months of the biennium shall not be required to complete any continuing education for the biennium.

(5) Continuing education hours may be transferred from another state to Indiana if the transfer state recognizes Indiana continuing education hours.

  (g) Failure to comply with any one (1) or all of the provisions of this rule while continuing to hold a license as a pharmacist in Indiana shall constitute professional incompetence by failing to keep abreast of current professional theory or practice under IC 25-1-9-3(a)(4)(B) and the pharmacist is subject to discipline under IC 25-1-9. (Indiana Board of Pharmacy; Reg 29; filed Mar 1, 1974, 3:05 p.m.: Rules and Regs. 1975, p. 516; filed Oct 26, 1984, 3:26 p.m.: 8 IR 212; filed Jan 21, 1994, 3:00 p.m.: 17 IR 1096, eff Jan 1, 1994 [IC 4-22-2-36 suspends the effectiveness of a rule document for thirty (30) days after filing with the secretary of state. LSA Document #93-152 was filed Jan 21, 1994.]; readopted filed Dec 2, 2001, 12:35 p.m.: 25 IR 1335; readopted filed Sep 26, 2008, 10:55 a.m.: 20081015-IR-856080346RFA; readopted filed Dec 1, 2014, 8:33 a.m.: 20141231-IR-856140392RFA)