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Pharmacy Technician Duties

WASHINGTON -- The 6-year-old Pharmacy Technician Certification Board minted its 104,644th certified pharmacy technician recently.

Passing the 100,000-certification milestone is significant because many industry experts feel the right mix of pharmacists and technicians can go a long way in lightening the impact of the growing pharmacist shortage. And while only one state requires pharmacy technicians to be certified, certification implies commitment, affinity and greater expertise in pharmacy.

PTCB began approaching the 100,000 mark last fall, when a total of 96,000 techs had been certified. Eight thousand of the 10,000 technicians who sat for the Nov. 10 test passed, according to PTCB executive director Melissa Murer, which pushed the total above 100,000.

In addition to its certification efforts, PTCB plans a number of promotional, policy and research based initiatives this year, Murer said. Further development of the ptcb.org Web site is in store, as 80 percent of potential certified technicians submit their applications electronically. 'We are exploring computer-based testing," Murer said, "but the costs remain significantly high."

New policy council

New in 2002 will be the PTCB Stakeholder Policy Council, whose membership will represent "a diversity of practice and geography," Murer noted. Council membership will include retail representatives. "The council will convene to take the pulse of what's going on in pharmacy," Murer said, "and work on products and services to support our mission."

The PTCB Web site (www.ptch.org), which logged more than 1 million hits during July and November, will post more technician profiles and pharmacist/technician team studies as part of 2002 promotional efforts.

At the retail level, most drug chains embrace technicians. Walgreens national director of pharmacy affairs Phil Burgess said the role of the pharmacy technician at his chain is "vitally important" to pharmacy operations. "A good technician can be a great asset to both pharmacists and patients," he said. "That's why Walgreens was the first major pharmacy chain to promote technician certification and why Walgreens has more PTCB certified technicians than any other chain."

CVS, another enthusiastic certified tech supporter, said the technicians help the chain make the best use of its pharmacists. "Certified techs take on technical duties that need to be accomplished that don't necessarily require a pharmacist to do them but do require a certain level of expertise," Jeffrey Newell, R.Ph., director of pharmacy programs for CYS, said. "Examples of these duties include inventory management, scheduling, department maintenance and data entry. The pharmacist spent time doing these things in days gone by, but we are positioning pharmacists to spend more time with the patients."

Newell is especially proud of the CVS technicians' certification pass rate. "During the most recent exam 87 percent of our CVS techs who took it passed, compared with the overall group figure of 77," he said. The CVS pass rate has topped 90 percent in recent years.

About 13 states in the country now reference PTCB certification in their regulations, Murer said. Texas was the first state last year to require PTCB certification of pharmacy technicians. 'We see pharmacy techs as one part of the solution," Murer said. "Technicians and pharmacy automation will go far to help the pharmacist shortage." The next certification exam is March 16.

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