BPS Recognizes Ambulatory Care as Specialty Practice

Cheryl A. Thompson

ROSEMONT, IL 16 June 2009—Ambulatory care pharmacy practice has become the sixth specialty in which pharmacists can be board certified.

The Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS) on Saturday unanimously approved the petition requesting recognition of ambulatory care pharmacy practice.

Ambulatory care pharmacy practice, according to the petition, is a specialty in medication use for preventive and chronic care.

"This is a crucial decision recognizing the special skills essential to advanced ambulatory care practice," said ASHP Executive Vice President Henri R. Manasse Jr., Ph.D., who is in Rosemont, Illinois, for the Society's 2009 Summer Meeting

ASHP, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and the American Pharmacists Association had jointly developed and submitted the petition.

BPS said it will now work with the three pharmacist associations to establish a specialty council on ambulatory care pharmacy. Other necessary tasks include defining the details of the certification process for the new specialty and preparing content for the certification exam.

Specialists in ambulatory care pharmacy practice may be able to take the first certification exam in 2011, BPS said. Administration of that first exam depends on having sufficient human and financial resources.