What Are Pharmacy Technician Responsibilities?
Pharmacy technicians, also known as pharm techs, perform a critical role in ensuring the smooth functioning of a pharmacy. Working under the supervision of a pharmacist, the successful completion of pharmacy technician responsibilities is vital to the patient care efforts of a pharmacy team.
Wondering what pharmacy technicians do in a pharmacy?
This article will talk about some standard pharmacy technician responsibilities and duties that can be applied to a pharm tech’s role in any pharmacy setting.
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The Role Of A Pharmacy Technician
Pharmacy technicians work closely with pharmacists and are essential members of the healthcare team. They play a crucial role in providing patients with safe and effective medication for their treatment. Let’s look at some of the vital pharmacy technician responsibilities and duties:
1. Screening and confirming prescription orders
One of the most critical daily duties of pharm techs is receiving and confirming prescription orders, both in-person and online. Because a tiny mistake in verifying details of a prescription can lead to larger issues, it’s vital that a pharmacy technician screens each prescription for accuracy and detail with the utmost attention.
Some of the key duties of a pharmacy tech for confirming prescription orders are:
- Collect prescriptions in person or retrieve the e-prescriptions via computer software.
- Collect and confirm accurate patient information.
- Work directly with patients to verify insurance coverage and obtain medication histories.
2. Prescription fulfillment and processing
Filling prescriptions is more than just counting pills and labeling bottles. It is a very detail-oriented responsibility in order to fulfill a prescription. A pharmacy technician, under the supervision of a pharmacist, may retrieve, count, pour, weigh, measure, and sometimes even mix the medication.
3. Interacting with customers and offering constant support
Pharmacy technicians need to interact with customers on a regular basis. Some typical customer service duties of pharmacy technicians include:
- Providing in-person and over the telephone customer service
- Hand out medications at the counter
- Process customer payments and manage the agreement process
- Talking and coordinating over the phone with doctors’ offices and other providers
- Having patients fill out insurance documents
- Referring patients to pharmacists if they have any additional inquiries or concerns.
4. Inventory management and performing administrative duties
Organizing pharmacy inventory is one of the key administrative duties of a pharmacy technician. It’s vital that the pharmacy always has commonly needed medications in stock. It is the responsibility of a pharmacy tech to ensure that the pharmacy can fill the prescriptions of patients. Some inventory management and administrative duties of pharmacy technicians include:
- Performing regularly scheduled inventory counts
- Checking for expired supplies/items and ordering replacements
- Stocking inventory regularly to keep up with the requirements
- Updating patients’ medical records
- Other miscellaneous data entry duties
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FAQs About Pharmacy Technicians
What do pharmacy technicians do?
Pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists in dispensing prescription medications to patients and health care providers.
Where do pharmacy technicians work?
Pharmacy technicians work at hospitals and pharmacies, such as those found in drugs, general merchandise, and grocery stores. The majority of pharmacy technicians work full-time, although many others work part-time.
What is the average salary of pharmacy technicians?
According to the US Department of Labor, In May 2020, the median annual wage for pharmacy technicians was $35,100 ($16.87 per hour). It’s important to keep in mind that this is an average of all pharmacy technicians and one’s salary will vary based on a number of factors. These include (but are not limited to) experience, where they work, what part of the country they work in, their specific duties/responsibilities, etc.
What is the career outlook if I become a pharmacy technician?
According to the US Department of Labor, from 2020 to 2030, the employment of pharmacy technicians is projected to grow by 4%.
Begin Your Pharmacy Tech Training at Dorsey College
If you’re interested in pursuing the role of pharmacy technician as a career option, learning more about the responsibilities and duties of a pharmacy tech could help you make a more informed decision.
Moreover, you can also consider enrolling in Dorsey College’s Pharmacy Technician training program today! Obtain the career training you need to pursue a career as a pharmacy technician and become part of a pharmacy team.
Licensure as a Pharmacy Technician is required in the State of Michigan for employment in this field. Dorsey College has determined that its Pharmacy Technician program curriculum is sufficient to fulfill educational requirements for licensure in the State of Michigan only. No educational determinations have been made for any other state, district or US territory in regards to licensure requirements.
Learn more about Pharmacy Technician Training at Dorsey College
Source:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Pharmacy Technicians, at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacy-technicians.htm (visited October 28, 2021).
