As of mid-2025, several states have adopted Standard of Care as the foundation of pharmacy regulation – and many others are actively exploring it. The conversation is gaining momentum, and it’s only a matter of time before this wave of change transforms pharmacy practice nationwide.
This shift isn’t just about rewriting board of pharmacy rules. It’s a paradigm shift in how pharmacists think about, define, and deliver patient care.
For decades, pharmacy practice has been governed by “bright-line” regulations, in other words rigid rules about what pharmacists can and can’t do. These regulations offered clarity and safety, but they also limited innovation. When practice evolved faster than policy, pharmacists couldn’t always serve patients to the full extent of their training.
What Standard of Care Really Means
Under Standard of Care, the guiding question is no longer “Is this allowed?”
Instead, pharmacists ask:
- Is it expressly prohibited?
- Have I been educated and trained to do it and do I feel confident?
- Would another prudent pharmacist in my situation do the same thing?
This model empowers pharmacists to practice at the top of their education and training, not just their license. It recognizes that competence grows through experience, continuing education, and reflection.
From Legal Ceiling to Professional Possibility
In CEimpact’s course Standard of Care Foundations: Insights from Innovators and Early Adopters, (Pharmacist Course and Pharmacy Technician Course) you’ll learn how this model balances scope expansion with patient safety. It shifts accountability from regulation to professional judgment – bringing pharmacy into alignment with medicine and nursing.
Here’s how to think about it:
- The entry barrier ensures minimum competency.
- The legal ceiling (the old “top of license”) set the limits.
- Your clinical ability is dynamic – expanding with every patient, every new study, every advanced training.
Standard of Care allows your scope to rise to meet your ability.
Pharmacists’ Dreams… Realized
At a recent Standard of Care symposium in Iowa, pharmacists shared their visions for care:
- Managing hypertension and adding therapy in collaboration with physicians.
- Supporting perimenopausal patients where specialists are scarce.
- Adjusting mental-health medications to close care gaps in their communities.
These aren’t wishful ideas – they’re becoming reality.
But with freedom comes responsibility. Standard of Care demands judgment, confidence, and continuous learning.
Next Level: Where CEimpact Helps You Thrive
You don’t just need CE – you need skills you can use. That’s where CEimpact’s Next Level advanced courses come in.
Advance your practice. Strengthen your care. Improve lives.
Next Level advanced courses give pharmacists practical, in-depth training to build knowledge and skills that matter – in practice and in life.
Designed to help you expand patient care, grow your confidence, and elevate your services, each course takes you beyond CE and into real-world expertise you can use right away.
Next Level Learning for Next Level Care.
Transform your knowledge into confidence, action, and better outcomes.
Whether your state has adopted Standard of Care yet or not, the momentum is building. Let CEimpact prepare you to lead the change.
Take the Next Step
Introductory Course: Standard of Care Foundations: Insights from Innovators and Early Adopters
Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technician Courses
Next Level: Explore CEimpact Advanced Courses
