Embracing the Evolution of Pharmacy Practice by Empowering Pharmacy Technicians

Abstract

While pharmacy technician roles in some practice settings are expanding beyond the traditional dispensing activities to include advanced or specialized tasks such as immunization administration, medication history collection, and final product verification, these practices are not yet widespread. There are apparent barriers to expanding the role of pharmacy technicians, including inconsistency in the education, training, and certification requirements across the United States, and regulations that have not kept pace with the evolving role of pharmacy technicians. Every corner of the profession has an opportunity, and responsibility, to elevate pharmacy technicians in an effort to advance safety and better serve patients. Regulators can expand the responsibilities that may be delegated to technicians, professional organizations can bring pharmacy technicians into the fold, employers can build career ladders to allow for advancement, and individual pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can advocate and engage.

The Role of Hospital and Community Pharmacists in the Management of COVID-19: Towards an Expanded Definition of the Roles, Responsibilities, and Duties of the Pharmacist

“…In countries in which COVID-19 induced restrictions have been eased and relaxed too soon, second waves and relapses are more likely to occur. In order to avoid strained and overwhelmed healthcare facilities, vaccinating against influenza will be of paramount importance [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ].…”

Pharmacy Technicians Help to Push Boundaries in Delivering Quality Care

“…The findings of Jetha et al further corroborate this notion, suggesting that further integration of such skills into technician education and training is necessary to maximize the benefit of future technician deployment and regulation [13]. An official from one of the certifying organizations in the U.S. speaks to this, and also indicates that they are working with various stakeholders, such as large employers and regulators to improve technician mobility across various settings in considering these basic skills, but also within organizations, such as with career laddering mechanisms [14].Career ladders provide hope and aspirations to employees that they might make increasingly substantial contributions to the organization and fulfill personal self-actualization goals. The move toward career laddering for technicians has been called for in otherresearch [15,16].…”

Comparing Medication History Capture Rates In-Person Versus Hybrid: A Multisite Pilot Study

“…The MHAS (total number of edits, additions, and deletions) were 4 (IQR 2-8) at Sites 1 and 2, and 3 (IQR 2-6) at Site 3. There was no difference in total medications on each medication history between in-person (Site 1) and hybrid (Site 2 and 3) (11 [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] vs 11 [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]; p = .252). There were no differences in changes captured by the MHAS between in-person and hybrid (4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] vs 3 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]; p = .595).…”

“…3,4 Similarly, trained pharmacy technicians or medication history technicians (MHTs) can complete medication histories and have been found to reduce errors in admission medication histories by over 80%, surpassing nursing staff in accuracy. [5][6][7] The literature has demonstrated that pharmacy technicians are able to accurately conduct medication histories, and as a result, has led to organizations leveraging technicians to assist with the medication reconciliation process. Another method for completing medication histories is using telepharmacy which is the delivery of pharmaceutical care via telecommunications or other technologies to patients from pharmacy staff.…”