I have been publishing articles on why and how to become a pharmacy technician, but some recent comments has made me realize I left out the obvious. What is it that pharmacy technicians do at a pharmacy. Most people assume they help the pharmacist record prescriptions and count pills. This is true for an outpatient pharmacy, also called a retail pharmacy, however there are many jobs for pharmacy techs in healthcare. The rest of this article will describe the job description of pharmacy techs in a retail or community context, and provide a bulleted list of tasks. Future articles will address diverse pharmacy environments for pharmacy technologists and the job descriptions and tasks associated with them as well.
Community/Retail Pharmacy: I have worked retail, and I prefer alternative settings; yet, it is where a huge percentage of pharmacy technician positions are found. What a pharmacy technician can accomplish is determined by the state they work via state laws and guidelines. In general, technicians cannot provide clinical information to patients or be the final check for prescriptions. In some states, technicians are authorized to provide information on over-the-counter (OTC) medication (eg, pharmaceuticals that do not require a prescription, such as, acetaminophen and ibuprofen) (ie, medications that do not require a prescription, such as, acetaminophen and ibuprofen). Specific positions that pharmacy technicians can have in a retail pharmacy include: general technician, lead technician, buying technician, compounding technician, and billing/insurance technician. In most pharmacies, pharmacy technicians are general technicians with some of the above specified skill sets. When you walk into a larger and busier pharmacy, you can actually have job distinction where workers have allocated specialized responsibilities (depending on the demands of the pharmacy) (based on the needs of the pharmacy).
Pharmacy technician tasks for retail pharmacies include, but are not limited to:
Collecting patient information (insurance and personal information as needed) (insurance and personal information as needed)
Entering and processing prescriptions in the computer system
Filling and selling prescriptions
Requesting refills from doctor offices for patients
Compounding drugs that are not commercially available
Ordering medicines
Restocking shelves
Answering the phone
Working with insurance companies on approving payment for specific medications
Maintaining the cash register and executing accounting functions
Retail pharmacies tend to acquire a bad rap from within the pharmacy profession. Although I prefer hospital (which will be the theme of the next essay), I enjoyed my time in a retail pharmacy. I was able to get to know the consumers (I like say patients) intimately. It is a nice feeling when a long-time customer comes to the pharmacy and you know them by name, maybe a little about their family, and most important you know their medical history. Because of this relationship, you are able to guarantee that the patient's medication regimen is ideal, as a technician you can help determine if there are generic alternatives to prescriptions supplied in order to help the patient save money.
In summary, retail pharmacies are the most popular type of pharmacy, and hence the site where the bulk of pharmacy techs are employed. Due to a rising older population (thank you baby boomers), retail pharmacies will continue to increase in demand. If you locate a lovely retail pharmacy to work in, and good employees to work with, a retail pharmacy technician career can be a great experience.
Reviewed by Linfinity
on
March 31, 2022
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