Kansas Senate Bill SB431

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/30/26
• Refer: 2/2/26
• Report Pass: 2/16/26
• Engrossed: 2/19/26
• Refer: 2/19/26
• Refer: 3/4/26
• Refer: 3/5/26
• Refer: 3/13/26
• Refer: 3/17/26

Caption

Establishing the remote practice of pharmacy, requiring certain conditions for such practice and limiting activities performed under such practice.

Summary

SB 431 establishes a new framework in Kansas law for the “remote practice of pharmacy,” allowing pharmacies to employ pharmacists, pharmacist interns, and pharmacy technicians to perform certain pharmacy functions from locations other than the physical pharmacy. The bill defines key terms, authorizes remote workers, and requires pharmacies to maintain written policies, secure remote work devices, and procedures to protect patient privacy, confidentiality, and record integrity. It also requires notice to be posted at the pharmacy if remote workers are employed. The bill places detailed operational limits on what remote workers may do. Remote pharmacists may not handle drugs or devices, package, compound, dispense, or label products, while remote interns and technicians may perform parts of the prescription process and, when supervised, contact prescribers, contact patients for clarification and payment processing, and transfer prescriptions. The bill also sets training and supervision requirements for interns and technicians, including minimum training hours, certification, and direct supervision standards, and it excludes medical care facility pharmacies from its scope.

Impact

SB 431 amends and supplements the Kansas Pharmacy Act by creating a statutory basis for remote pharmacy work and by imposing recordkeeping, security, supervision, and confidentiality requirements on pharmacies that use remote workers. It also makes certain personally identifying information about remote workers confidential and exempts it from the Kansas Open Records Act, with that confidentiality provision set to expire on July 1, 2031 unless reenacted. The bill affects pharmacies, pharmacists-in-charge, pharmacy owners, pharmacist interns, and pharmacy technicians, while leaving existing regulations in K.A.R. 68-22-1 through 68-22-5 and medical care facility pharmacy operations unchanged.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have broad support, as reflected by its unanimous Senate Emergency Final Action vote of 40-0. The overall tone of the measure is regulatory and permissive: it expands pharmacy practice options while pairing that expansion with detailed safeguards for privacy, security, and supervision. The absence of recorded committee testimony in the provided context suggests no documented public controversy in the materials supplied.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are the balance between flexibility and oversight, and the limits placed on remote work. Supporters would likely favor the bill’s modernization of pharmacy operations and workforce use, while concerns may focus on patient privacy, cybersecurity, supervision quality, and whether remote practice could affect safety or professional accountability. The bill addresses those concerns by requiring secure devices, restricted access, written procedures, audits, and direct supervision, but it also draws a clear line by prohibiting remote pharmacists from physically handling or dispensing drugs and by limiting intern hour credit unless continuous audio-video observation is present.