PharmD · Georgia
Collaborative Drug Therapy Management for Pharmacists in Georgia
Yes, a written agreement with a physician is required before you manage drug therapy. Georgia calls it a Drug Therapy Modification Protocol.
Several separate, narrower protocol-gated pathways rather than one unified 'collaborative practice' status — none amounts to general independent prescribing. No Georgia flu/strep 'test and treat' law was found (a commonly-repeated claim traces to North Carolina legislation, not Georgia — confirmed as a cross-state citation error and excluded here).
Independent practice requires: Certified for Drug Therapy Modification (O.C.G.A. §§ 26-4-50, 43-34-24) — physician must first diagnose and issue a written order/protocol; pharmacist adjusts only within that patient-specific protocol; OR certified for vaccine administration under a physician-issued protocol (§ 43-34-26.1) or, for pharmacy technicians specifically, under a supervising pharmacist for certain adult vaccines (§ 26-4-52); OR (eff. 7/1/2026) certified to prescribe/dispense PrEP/PEP under a statewide Board of Pharmacy protocol with physician oversight (S.B. 195, 2025-26 session); OR (protocol expected eff. 1/1/2027) certified to dispense hormonal contraceptives under a joint DPH/Board of Pharmacy protocol (H.B. 1138, signed 5/11/2026).
What the collaboration must look like
The rules the physician relationship has to follow. Each fact comes from the statute or board rule listed under sources.
Proximity
Not codified — left to the agreement
Supervision ratio
Not codified — no cap on file
Chart review
Not codified — left to the agreement
Meeting cadence
As needed
Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 480-35-.04 requires the drug-therapy-modification protocol to specify a 'method and frequency of notification to the physician' of any modification — parties define the cadence themselves; no board-mandated frequency was found.
Prescriptive authority
Separate prescribing terms required · controlled substances permitted
This cross-reference is confirmed to exist, but the full text of §§ 16-13-41/-74 was not independently read to confirm exactly how it constrains Schedule II modification in practice — flag as partially verified.
Written agreement
Required
True for Drug Therapy Modification (written protocol) and vaccine administration (protocol agreement). PrEP/PEP uses a statewide Board-developed protocol rather than a per-pharmacist agreement. Base dispensing/counseling needs no physician agreement.
Practice ownership (corporate practice of medicine)
Non-licensee ownership permitted — O.C.G.A. § 26-4-110 explicitly contemplates pharmacy ownership by 'a sole proprietor, partnership, association, corporation, or otherwise' — no requirement that the owner be a licensed pharmacist. Every pharmacy must designate a 'pharmacist in charge' with personal supervision of the prescription department during operating hours (limited exceptions for hospitals/nursing homes/pharmacy schools/HMOs); one pharmacist may supervise only one location at a time.
Materially more permissive than the physician/APRN CPOM framework above.
Sources for the supervision rules (7)
- O.C.G.A. § 26-4-50 — Drug therapy modification certificationsecondary
- O.C.G.A. § 43-34-24 — Drug therapy management/modification by a pharmacist
- O.C.G.A. § 26-4-110 — Pharmacy licenses/ownershipsecondary
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 480-35-.04 — Requirements for a Protocol (via Cornell LII mirror)secondary
- O.C.G.A. § 43-34-26.1 — Vaccine protocol agreements; § 26-4-52 — Pharmacy technician vaccine administration
- S.B. 195 (2025-26 session) — PrEP/PEP pharmacist authority, signed, eff. 7/1/2026 — SECONDARY SOURCE ONLY, bill text not independently fetched
- H.B. 1138 (2026 session) — 'Increasing Access to Contraceptives Act,' signed 5/11/2026, joint protocol expected eff. 1/1/2027 — SECONDARY SOURCE ONLY, bill text not independently fetched
What a collaborating physician costs here
Typical monthly cost in Georgia
$500 – $600
Estimate for one Pharmacist. Standard-tier state.
About Georgia's rules
Georgia remains one of the more restrictive states: there is no independent-practice pathway for NPs, PMHNPs, CRNAs, CNMs or CNSs, and the 50-mile APRN physician-proximity rule was not removed by the 2023–2024 reform (a common misconception). That reform raised the ratio cap (from 4 to a combined 8 APRNs and PAs) and added a narrow hydrocodone/oxycodone-only Schedule II exception; APRNs and PAs are otherwise barred from Schedule II.
Other clinicians in Georgia: see the state overview.