scholarly journals Embracing the Evolution of Pharmacy Practice by Empowering Pharmacy Technicians

Pharmacy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Burke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Pharmacy Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Medication History ◽  
Pharmacy Technician ◽  
Pharmacy Technicians ◽  
Product Verification ◽  
Certification Requirements

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.

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

Pharmacy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Zgarrick ◽  
Tatiana Bujnoch ◽  
Shane P. Desselle
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Consumer Price Index ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Care Team ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Pharmacy Technician ◽  
Wage Premiums ◽  
Pharmacy Technicians

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.

scholarly journals Description of Position Ads for Pharmacy Technicians

Pharmacy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Juanita A. Draime ◽  
Emily C. Wicker ◽  
Zachary J. Krauss ◽  
Joel L. Sweeney ◽  
Douglas C. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Pharmacy Technician ◽  
Uniform Definition ◽  
Broad Variety ◽  
Pharmacy Technicians ◽  
Job Duties ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Retail Setting

Pharmacy technician roles are evolving alongside the changing role of a pharmacist. There is currently no uniform definition of a pharmacy technician’s role in the pharmacy workforce. The objective of this study was to look at the United States-based pharmacy technician advertisement database from Pharmacy Week to find patterns and commonalities in the duties and qualifications of pharmacy technicians. A retrospective analysis was performed on fourteen days of pharmacy technician job listings from Pharmacy Week from the year 2018. Information obtained from the listings included job title, location, setting, type of job, job duties, and job requirements. Job duties and requirements were coded by themes. Fourteen days of data resulted in 21,007 individual position listings. A majority of the job listings were for full-time positions (96.4%) and most were in the retail setting (96.78%). The most common requirements were registration with State Board, high school diploma, ability to perform tasks, communication, and physical. The most common job duties were general office etiquette, performing tasks under the direct supervision of the pharmacist, and professionalism. This study provides a description of the evolving role of pharmacy technicians through the broad variety in expectations for requirements of pharmacy technician applicants and the duties they perform when hired.

scholarly journals The Community Pharmacy Technician’s Role in the Changing Pharmacy Practice Space

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Brooke Taylor ◽  
Bella Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Community Pharmacy ◽  
Clinical Laboratory ◽  
Pharmacy Practice ◽  
Pharmacy Technician ◽  
Medication Therapy ◽  
Medication Information ◽  
Article Type ◽  
Pharmacy Technicians ◽  
Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments

Purpose: The practice of pharmacy and role of pharmacists has evolved over the decades but markedly since the introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010. The ACA allowed patients to have increased access to community pharmacy services, such as medication therapy management, leading to an increase in the clinical services provided by pharmacists. This expansion of pharmacist’s roles has led to pharmacists to feel an increase in workload which negatively impacts the time spent with patients. One way for this shift to occur without continuing to increase the pharmacist’s workload is by using technicians as pharmacist extenders to take on more technical tasks. Summary: The role of pharmacy technicians has been slow to expand from fear of public safety due to the lack of required education and training. Today, state requirements to practice as a pharmacy technician have become stricter with state requiring licensing, registration or certification. This increase in requirements as led to the expansion of pharmacy technician duties. Studies show that pharmacy technicians are able to perform technician accuracy checking, provide immunization and perform Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-waived screenings. In addition to these duties, pharmacy technicians are being utilized in more novel ways such as collecting medication information in primary care and telepharmacy settings. Conclusion: In order for pharmacy to continue to grow as a profession, pharmacists need to use pharmacy technicians as extenders. As pharmacy technicians begin to take on more of the technical duties, pharmacists are able to increase the time spent with patients.   Article Type: Commentary

scholarly journals Alignment of Community Pharmacy Foundation Grant Funding and the Evolution of Pharmacy Practice in the United States of America

Pharmacy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany Hoffmann-Eubanks ◽  
Anne Marie Kondic ◽  
Brian J. Isetts
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Community Pharmacy ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Pharmacy Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grant Funding ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Community Pharmacy Practice

The Community Pharmacy Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of community pharmacy practice and patient care delivery through grant funding and resource sharing. Since 2002, CPF has awarded 191 grants and over $9,200,000 (US dollars) in research and project grants. The purpose of this manuscript is to highlight the evolution of pharmacy practice and pharmacy education in the United States through the presentation of exemplary cases of Community Pharmacy Foundation funding that is aligned with new care delivery models and approaches to the advancement of patient-centered pharmacy care. Pharmacy began in colonial America as the United States of America was just beginning to form with apothecary shops and druggists. Over time, the pharmacy industry would be revolutionized as America became urbanized, and drug products became commercially produced. The role of the pharmacist and their education evolved as direct patient care became a clear expectation of the general public. By the 1990s, the pharmacy profession had carved out a new path that focused on pharmacist-led, patient-centered pharmaceutical care and medication therapy management services. The Community Pharmacy Foundation grant funding has aligned with this evolution since its founding in 2000, and multiple exemplary grants are presented as support. As the role of pharmacists again transitions from a fee-for-service model to a value-based model, the Community Pharmacy Foundation continues to provide grant funding for research and projects that support the advancement of community pharmacy practice, education, and expanded training of pharmacists.

scholarly journals Community-Based Pharmacy Practice Innovation and the Role of the Community-Based Pharmacist Practitioner in the United States

Pharmacy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Venable Goode ◽  
James Owen ◽  
Alexis Page ◽  
Sharon Gatewood
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Pharmacy Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Patient Health

Community-based pharmacy practice is evolving from a focus on product preparation and dispensing to becoming a health care destination within the four walls of the traditional community-based pharmacy. Furthermore, community-based pharmacy practice is expanding beyond the four walls of the traditional community-based pharmacy to provide care to patients where they need it. Pharmacists involved in this transition are community-based pharmacist practitioners who are primarily involved in leading and advancing team-based patient care services in communities to improve the patient health. This paper will review community-based pharmacy practice innovations and the role of the community-based pharmacist practitioner in the United States.

scholarly journals Advancing Community Pharmacy Practice – A Technician Product Verification Pilot to Optimize Care

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Michael Andreski ◽  
Erica Martin ◽  
Victoria Valentine Brouner ◽  
Sarah Sorum
Keyword(s):  
Community Pharmacy ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Pharmacy Practice ◽  
Direct Patient Care ◽  
Utilization Review ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Pharmacy Technician ◽  
Pharmacy Technicians ◽  
Product Verification

Elevating the technical role of pharmacy technicians to perform Technician Product Verification (TPV) is one strategy that has shown promise to optimize pharmacy practice models. This is done by better positioning pharmacists to provide clinical care, in line with their education and expertise. TPV permits a Validated Pharmacy Technician, as defined by the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board, to verify the accuracy of a product filled by another technician. The pharmacist maintains responsibility for assessing the clinical appropriateness of the prescription, including drug utilization review, data entry, and patient counseling.  During the study period, 12,891 pharmacist-verified prescriptions (baseline) and 27,447 Validated Pharmacy Technician-verified prescriptions were audited for accuracy. The aggregate verification error rate for pharmacist-verified prescriptions was 0.16% and 0.01% for Validated Pharmacy Technician-verified prescriptions. The mean error rate was significantly less for Validated Pharmacy Technician-verified prescriptions than for pharmacist-verified prescriptions (0.19 ± 0.174 % vs 0.03 ± 0.089 %, p=0.020) (Figure 3). This suggests TPV in the community pharmacy setting maintained patient safety. In this study, Validated Pharmacy Technicians were shown to be more accurate than pharmacists at performing product verification. The ability to delegate the product verification task holds the potential to free up pharmacist time for increased direct patient care. Increasing direct patient care by pharmacists in community pharmacies may have significant implications for improving patient outcomes and pharmacy quality.   Article Type: Original Research

The Role of Gender and Sensation Seeking in Film Choice

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Smita C. Banerjee ◽  
Kathryn Greene ◽  
Marina Krcmar ◽  
Zhanna Bagdasarov ◽  
Dovile Ruginyte
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Sensation Seeking ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
Positive Mood ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Arousal ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
Happy Mood

This study demonstrates the significance of individual difference factors, particularly gender and sensation seeking, in predicting media choice (examined through hypothetical descriptions of films that participants anticipated they would view). This study used a 2 (Positive mood/negative mood) × 2 (High arousal/low arousal) within-subject design with 544 undergraduate students recruited from a large northeastern university in the United States. Results showed that happy films and high arousal films were preferred over sad films and low-arousal films, respectively. In terms of gender differences, female viewers reported a greater preference than male viewers for happy-mood films. Also, male viewers reported a greater preference for high-arousal films compared to female viewers, and female viewers reported a greater preference for low-arousal films compared to male viewers. Finally, high sensation seekers reported a preference for high-arousal films. Implications for research design and importance of exploring media characteristics are discussed.

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