It is common for individuals to request to transfer their care from one pharmacy to another. Patients have the right to choose which pharmacy they receive their pharmacy services from, and may ask to move their care, information, and prescriptions at any time.
When a transfer is requested, it should be facilitated by both the transferring and receiving parties. Under the Code of Ethics and the Standards of Practice for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians (SPPPT), pharmacy professionals have an obligation to patients that must not be influenced by personal or commercial benefit.
The regulated member transferring care must complete the process in a timely manner that ensures patient care is not disrupted. Requests to transfer care can be made to a pharmacy verbally by the regulated member on behalf of the patient, verbally by the patient, or in writing as a transfer request signed by the patient. Regulated members should not contact the patient to pressure or incent them to continue care at their pharmacy.
The receiving regulated member must provide specific information about what has been requested for the transfer, be respectful of the workload at the transferring pharmacy, and not request information that is not relevant to or necessary for the care that is being transferred.
For more information, refer to ACP’s Guidance for requests to transfer patient care.
