Bill > SB309

This bill amends the Arkansas Health Care Consumer Act by updating the definition of "psychiatric collaborative care model" to extend the reference date for evidence-based behavioral health service delivery guidelines from March 31, 2023 to January 1, 2025. The bill also expands the definition to explicitly include clinical psychiatric pharmacists as potential members of the primary care team, provided they meet specific qualifications. These qualifications include: possessing a pharmacy degree from an accredited program, utilizing a disease state management protocol or serving as a medication therapy consultant, and maintaining a good standing pharmacist license with the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy. Additionally, the bill allows clinical psychiatric pharmacists to hold a national board certification. The psychiatric collaborative care model is fundamentally an integrated behavioral health service delivery method typically involving a primary care provider, care manager, and psychiatric consultant, and this amendment broadens the potential composition of that collaborative team to include specially qualified pharmacists.

Business and Industry

https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/Detail?id=sb309&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R