Fla. Stat. 465.019
Institutional pharmacies; permits
(1)
Any institution desiring to operate an institutional pharmacy shall apply to the department. If the board certifies that the application complies with the laws of the state and the rules of the board governing pharmacies, the department shall issue the permit.(2)
The following classes of institutional pharmacies are established:“Class I institutional pharmacies” are those institutional pharmacies in which all medicinal drugs are administered from individual prescription containers to the individual patient and in which medicinal drugs are not dispensed on the premises, except that nursing homes licensed under part II of chapter 400 may purchase medical oxygen for administration to residents. No medicinal drugs may be dispensed in a Class I institutional pharmacy.“Class II institutional pharmacies” are those institutional pharmacies which employ the services of a registered pharmacist or pharmacists who, in practicing institutional pharmacy, shall provide dispensing and consulting services on the premises to patients of that institution, for use on the premises of that institution. However, an institutional pharmacy located in an area or county included in an emergency order or proclamation of a state of emergency declared by the Governor may provide dispensing and consulting services to individuals who are not patients of the institution. However, a single dose of a medicinal drug may be obtained and administered to a patient on a valid physician’s drug order under the supervision of a physician or charge nurse, consistent with good institutional practice procedures. The obtaining and administering of such single dose of a medicinal drug shall be pursuant to drug-handling procedures established by a consultant pharmacist. Medicinal drugs may be dispensed in a Class II institutional pharmacy, but only in accordance with the provisions of this section.“Modified Class II institutional pharmacies” are those institutional pharmacies in short-term, primary care treatment centers that meet all the requirements for a Class II permit, except space and equipment requirements.
“Class III institutional pharmacies” are those institutional pharmacies, including central distribution facilities, affiliated with a hospital which provide the same services that are authorized by a Class II institutional pharmacy permit. Class III institutional pharmacies may also:
Dispense, distribute, compound, and fill prescriptions for medicinal drugs for inpatient treatment or for patients receiving acute and postacute hospital care at home.
Prepare prepackaged drug products.
Conduct other pharmaceutical services for the affiliated hospital and for entities under common control that are each permitted under this chapter to possess medicinal drugs.
Provide the services in sub-subparagraphs a.-c. to an entity under common control which holds an active health care clinic establishment permit as required under s. 499.01(2)(r).
A Class III institutional pharmacy shall maintain policies and procedures addressing:
The consultant pharmacist responsible for pharmaceutical services.
Safe practices for the preparation, dispensing, prepackaging, distribution, and transportation of medicinal drugs and prepackaged drug products.
Recordkeeping to monitor the movement, distribution, and transportation of medicinal drugs and prepackaged drug products.
Recordkeeping of pharmacy staff responsible for each step in the preparation, dispensing, prepackaging, transportation, and distribution of medicinal drugs and prepackaged drug products.
Medicinal drugs and prepackaged drug products that may not be safely distributed among Class III institutional pharmacies.
(a)
“Class I institutional pharmacies” are those institutional pharmacies in which all medicinal drugs are administered from individual prescription containers to the individual patient and in which medicinal drugs are not dispensed on the premises, except that nursing homes licensed under part II of chapter 400 may purchase medical oxygen for administration to residents. No medicinal drugs may be dispensed in a Class I institutional pharmacy.(b)
“Class II institutional pharmacies” are those institutional pharmacies which employ the services of a registered pharmacist or pharmacists who, in practicing institutional pharmacy, shall provide dispensing and consulting services on the premises to patients of that institution, for use on the premises of that institution. However, an institutional pharmacy located in an area or county included in an emergency order or proclamation of a state of emergency declared by the Governor may provide dispensing and consulting services to individuals who are not patients of the institution. However, a single dose of a medicinal drug may be obtained and administered to a patient on a valid physician’s drug order under the supervision of a physician or charge nurse, consistent with good institutional practice procedures. The obtaining and administering of such single dose of a medicinal drug shall be pursuant to drug-handling procedures established by a consultant pharmacist. Medicinal drugs may be dispensed in a Class II institutional pharmacy, but only in accordance with the provisions of this section.(c)
“Modified Class II institutional pharmacies” are those institutional pharmacies in short-term, primary care treatment centers that meet all the requirements for a Class II permit, except space and equipment requirements.(d)1.
“Class III institutional pharmacies” are those institutional pharmacies, including central distribution facilities, affiliated with a hospital which provide the same services that are authorized by a Class II institutional pharmacy permit. Class III institutional pharmacies may also:Dispense, distribute, compound, and fill prescriptions for medicinal drugs for inpatient treatment or for patients receiving acute and postacute hospital care at home.
Prepare prepackaged drug products.
Conduct other pharmaceutical services for the affiliated hospital and for entities under common control that are each permitted under this chapter to possess medicinal drugs.
Provide the services in sub-subparagraphs a.-c. to an entity under common control which holds an active health care clinic establishment permit as required under s. 499.01(2)(r).
A Class III institutional pharmacy shall maintain policies and procedures addressing:The consultant pharmacist responsible for pharmaceutical services.
Safe practices for the preparation, dispensing, prepackaging, distribution, and transportation of medicinal drugs and prepackaged drug products.
Recordkeeping to monitor the movement, distribution, and transportation of medicinal drugs and prepackaged drug products.
Recordkeeping of pharmacy staff responsible for each step in the preparation, dispensing, prepackaging, transportation, and distribution of medicinal drugs and prepackaged drug products.
Medicinal drugs and prepackaged drug products that may not be safely distributed among Class III institutional pharmacies.
(3)
Medicinal drugs shall be stocked, stored, compounded, dispensed, or administered in any health care institution only when that institution has secured an institutional pharmacy permit from the department.(4)(a)
Medicinal drugs shall be dispensed by an institutional pharmacy to outpatients only when that institution has secured a community pharmacy permit from the department. However, medicinal drugs may be dispensed by a hospital that operates a Class II or Class III institutional pharmacy to a patient of the hospital’s emergency department or a hospital inpatient upon discharge if a prescriber, as defined in s. 465.025(1), treating the patient in such hospital determines that the medicinal drug is warranted and that community pharmacy services are not readily accessible, geographically or otherwise, to the patient. Such prescribing and dispensing must be for a supply of the drug that will last for the greater of the following:Up to 48 hours; or
Through the end of the next business day.
Notwithstanding subparagraph (a)1., if a state of emergency has been declared and is in effect for an area of this state pursuant to s. 252.36, a supply of a medicinal drug which will last up to 72 hours may be prescribed and dispensed under paragraph (a) in that area.A prescriber as defined in s. 465.025(1) who prescribes medicinal drugs under this subsection may provide the patient with a prescription for such drug for use beyond the initial prescription period if the prescriber determines that such use is warranted. Any prescribing or dispensing of a controlled substance under this subsection must comply with the applicable requirements of ss. 456.44 and 465.0276.The board may adopt rules to implement this subsection.(4)(a)
Medicinal drugs shall be dispensed by an institutional pharmacy to outpatients only when that institution has secured a community pharmacy permit from the department. However, medicinal drugs may be dispensed by a hospital that operates a Class II or Class III institutional pharmacy to a patient of the hospital’s emergency department or a hospital inpatient upon discharge if a prescriber, as defined in s. 465.025(1), treating the patient in such hospital determines that the medicinal drug is warranted and that community pharmacy services are not readily accessible, geographically or otherwise, to the patient. Such prescribing and dispensing must be for a supply of the drug that will last for the greater of the following:Up to 48 hours; orThrough the end of the next business day.(b)
Notwithstanding subparagraph (a)1., if a state of emergency has been declared and is in effect for an area of this state pursuant to s. 252.36, a supply of a medicinal drug which will last up to 72 hours may be prescribed and dispensed under paragraph (a) in that area.(c)
A prescriber as defined in s. 465.025(1) who prescribes medicinal drugs under this subsection may provide the patient with a prescription for such drug for use beyond the initial prescription period if the prescriber determines that such use is warranted. Any prescribing or dispensing of a controlled substance under this subsection must comply with the applicable requirements of ss. 456.44 and 465.0276.(d)
The board may adopt rules to implement this subsection.(5)
All institutional pharmacies shall be under the professional supervision of a consultant pharmacist, and the compounding and dispensing of medicinal drugs shall be done only by a licensed pharmacist. Every institutional pharmacy that employs or otherwise uses registered pharmacy technicians shall have a written policy and procedures manual specifying those duties, tasks, and functions that a registered pharmacy technician is allowed to perform.(6)
In a Class II or Class III institutional pharmacy, an institutional formulary system may be adopted with approval of the medical staff for the purpose of identifying those medicinal drugs, proprietary preparations, biologics, biosimilars, and biosimilar interchangeables that may be dispensed by the pharmacists employed in such institution. A facility with a Class II or Class III institutional pharmacy permit which is operating under the formulary system shall establish policies and procedures for the development of the system in accordance with the joint standards of the American Hospital Association and American Society of Hospital Pharmacists for the utilization of a hospital formulary system, which formulary shall be approved by the medical staff.
Source:
Section 465.019 — Institutional pharmacies; permits, https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/0465.019 (accessed Aug. 7, 2025).