PharmD · District of Columbia
Collaborative Practice Agreement for Pharmacists in District of Columbia
Yes, a written physician agreement is required. District of Columbia calls it a Collaborative Practice Agreement.
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 the collaboration must look like
The rules the physician relationship has to follow. Each fact comes from the statute or board rule listed under sources.
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 per the agreement's specified terms (§ 3-1202.08; 17 DCMR Ch. 100/22-B DCMR Ch. 10006) — this is drug-therapy management under a jointly Board of Pharmacy/Board of Medicine-approved protocol, not independent DEA-registered controlled-substance prescribing, so controlledSubstancesAllowed is coded False here; whether CPA terms may extend to controlled substances was not confirmed in this pass.
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 was identified for DC pharmacy permits — not independently confirmed against a specific statute/reg in this pass; treat as consistent with the typical non-restrictive pharmacy-ownership pattern seen in other states rather than a settled DC-specific finding.
Materially more permissive than the healing-arts CPOM regime governing PA/NP/CRNA/CNM/CNS above, if confirmed.
Legal sources for these 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
What a collaborating physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in District of Columbia
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Pharmacist. Standard-tier state.
About District of Columbia's rules
The Health Occupations Revision Amendment Act of 2024 repealed D.C. Code § 3-1206.03, eliminating the collaboration mandate for all APRN categories (NP/PMHNP/CRNA/CNM/CNS) — DC is now a full-practice-authority jurisdiction for APRNs. PAs are NOT covered by that reform and still require a Board of Medicine Delegation Agreement regardless of experience; no autonomous-PA pathway was found in DC as of this pass.
Other clinicians in District of Columbia: see the state overview.