ACCP - ACCP Efforts to Expand Pharmacy Specialty Recognition

ACCP Efforts to Expand Pharmacy Specialty Recognition

ACCP has established this Web page to help members learn more about the specialist recognition process and to track the College’s progress toward achieving recognition of new clinical pharmacy specialties.

ACCP Memos to Board Certification Stakeholders

ACCP Report Excerpts on Expanding Specialist Certification

ACCP Member Surveys Regarding Specialist Certification

March 2011 Survey

Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) Process
for Considering a New Specialty

An organization (with or without cosponsoring organizations) submits to BPS a brief proposal for consideration of a new pharmacy specialty following the guidelines issued by BPS, Preliminary Request for the Board of Pharmacy Specialties to Consider a New Specialty. These guidelines call for the preliminary proposal to include the name of the practice area of the proposed specialty; a description of the specialty practice area, the pharmacists engaged in it, and its overall impact on society; estimates of the number of pharmacists who might seek such certification; and documentation of organizational funding support to develop a full petition to BPS and to support implementation of the specialty before the receipt of candidate fees.
BPS evaluates the preliminary request described in No. 1 above. If the request is judged to support the potential viability of the proposed specialty, BPS will undertake a formal role delineation study (RDS) to determine and analyze the tasks performed by practitioners in the specialty.
BPS reviews the results of the RDS; if the Board finds that the RDS validates the area as a potential pharmacy specialty, a call will be issued for a formal petition requesting recognition of the specialty. Such petitions must include extensive documentation and justification of the potential specialty. This process typically requires several months to complete background research and petition preparation before submission to BPS.
Once a petition supporting a new specialty is developed and submitted, BPS evaluates the petition, seeks profession-wide input on the petition and specialty, and then acts on the petition to either approve or deny the new specialty. During this process, the petition’s sponsoring organization(s) may be asked to amend or otherwise modify the petition.

Progress of Preliminary Requests for Consideration of a New Specialty Submitted to BPS.

Date Submitted	Practice Area	Request Approved by BPS?	Role Delineation Study (RDS)	Status
December 2012	Solid Organ Transplant Pharmacy Practice	Pending	Completed	See April 4, 2018 BPS news release below. Public comments due May 15, 2018.
February 2012	Cardiology Pharmacy Practice	Yes	Completed	Approval announced by BPS February 14, 2017
February 2012	Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Practice	Yes	Completed	Approval announced by BPS February 14, 2017
April 2011	Critical Care Pharmacy Practice	Yes	Completed	Approval announced by BPS April 15, 2013. Joint petition submitted by ACCP, APhA and ASHP on November 15, 2012. See BPS call for comments.
April 2011	Pediatric Pharmacy Practice	Yes	Completed	Approval announced by BPS April 15, 2013. Joint petition submitted by ACCP, APhA, ASHP, and PPAG on November 15, 2012. See BPS call for comments.

Other Documents of Interest

ACCP Efforts to Expand Pharmacy Specialty Recognition

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