Evaluating advanced pharmacy technician roles in the provision of point-of-care testing

Hill, Hunter; Cardosi, Lindsey; Henson, Lindsey C.; Wasson, Mike; Fountain, Michele; Desselle, Shane P.

doi:10.1016/j.japh.2020.02.024

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Using certified pharmacy technicians in POCT support roles has been studied as a means to operationalize service delivery within pharmacies. 14 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Models of POCT within community pharmacies exist, but POCT is still an emerging area. 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 Herbin et al. 6 recently reviewed pharmacy-based infectious disease management programs, including POCT as well as the treatment, referral and monitoring of influenza, Group A streptococcus (GAS), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Models also exist for lipid screening and management within community pharmacy practice. 13,14 Despite advocacy efforts, recent legislative advancements, and practice exemplars, the uptake of POCT within pharmacies at state and national levels is largely unknown. Qualitative interviews of pharmacy managers and staff pharmacists at 8 community pharmacies in New York and Pennsylvania revealed that only 3 pharmacies (37.5%) provided POCT services.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A state-level needs analysis of community pharmacy point-of-care testing

Gallimore¹,

Porter²,

Barnett³

et al. 2021

Journal of the American Pharmacists Association

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Background: The uptake of point-of-care testing (POCT) within community pharmacies at state and national levels is largely unknown despite the endorsement and advocacy efforts of pharmacy organizations, recent legislative advances, and numerous models for successful POCT implementation within individual pharmacy sites.Objectives: The study aimed to describe the current landscape of POCT in Wisconsin community pharmacies and identify opportunities for the advancement of testing and the key factors influencing the realization of these opportunities. Methods: A survey was administered over the telephone to pharmacy managers of community pharmacies in Wisconsin. The sites were randomly selected from predefined geographic regions to mirror pharmacy distribution across Wisconsin. The survey items evaluated provision of POCT, future direction of POCT, barriers and motivators to offering POCT, and pharmacy demographics. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyze data. Results: Pharmacy managers from 147 of the 938 registered community pharmacies (15.7%) participated in the survey. Only 17.1% of the pharmacies were offering POCT; however, 48.3% of managers reported that their pharmacy would likely implement or expand POCT within the next 5 years. The most commonly reported barriers to initiating or expanding POCT were the limitations on pharmacist availability to oversee testing and workflow restrictions. Continuing to advance the pharmacy profession was a top reason for offering or expanding testing services. Discussion: While few pharmacies are offering POCT in Wisconsin, there is motivation for expansion in coming years. Understanding, anticipating and addressing common barriers can faciliate this process. Conclusion: This needs analysis offers a blueprint for researchers, educators, and clinicians to shape POCT efforts by examining the landscape of pharmacy-based testing in their own states and communities.

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“…Using certified pharmacy technicians in POCT support roles has been studied as a means to operationalize service delivery within pharmacies. 14 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A state-level needs analysis of community pharmacy point-of-care testing

Gallimore¹,

Porter²,

Barnett³

et al. 2021

Journal of the American Pharmacists Association

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“…Since 2006 wage premiums for pharmacy technicians in the US have fluctuated in a manner and to a degree similar to those experienced by the median of "all occupations" in the US economy. Yet, what has been asked of pharmacy technicians in terms of expanded job roles [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] and regulatory requirements [21][22][23] has increased over this time. While one would expect to see positive wage premiums as a result of these increases in job roles and requirements, this was not observed in our analysis, and is consistent with the findings of other researchers [21,22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In pharmacy, the role of the pharmacist has been increasingly supported by the pharmacy technician. Pharmacy technicians support pharmacists in dispensing medications, performing clinical functions needed to improve the outcomes of mediation use [4][5][6], and to perform a number of administrative functions which assist in the operations of a pharmacy [7]. Pharmacy technicians have been asked to increasingly take on roles that had previously been exclusively performed by pharmacists, including reviewing medications and checking the work of other technicians prior to dispensing [8,9], taking medication histories [10], managing warfarin therapy within a clinical pharmacy anticoagulation service [11] and immunization delivery [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wage Premiums as a Means to Evaluate the Labor Market for Pharmacy Technicians in the United States: 1997–2018

2020

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Pharmacy technicians are integral members of the health care team, assisting pharmacists and other health professionals in assuring safe and effective medication use. To date, evaluation of the labor market for pharmacy technicians has been limited, and relatively little has been evaluated regarding trends in wages. The objective of this research is to use US Bureau of Labor Statistics (US BLS) data to evaluate changes in pharmacy technician wages in the United States from 1997 to 2018 relative to changes in the US consumer price index (CPI). Median hourly wages for pharmacy technicians were collected from US BLS data from 1997 to 2018. Median hourly wages were compared to expected hourly wages, with the difference, a wage premium, indicative of imbalances in the supply and demand of labor. Both positive and negative wage premiums were observed, with most positive wage premiums occurring prior to 2007 and most negative wage premiums observed after 2008. Differences in wage premiums were also observed between technicians working in various practice settings. Given the median length of employment of pharmacy technicians, it is likely that the majority of technicians working in US pharmacies have not experienced increases in their wages relative to what would be expected by changes in the CPI. This has occurred at a time when pharmacies and pharmacists are asking more of their pharmacy technicians. Researchers and pharmacy managers must continue to evaluate the pharmacy technician labor market to assure that technician wage and compensation levels attract an adequate supply of sufficiently skilled workers.

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