Introducing a checking technician allows pharmacists to spend more time on patient-focused activities

Napier, Patti; Norris, Pauline; Braund, Rhiannon

doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2017.05.002

Cited by 29 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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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%

“…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]. Pharmacists depend upon a stable labor market of pharmacy technicians to support them in optimizing patient health outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…To determine if it could and should be adopted into the NZ pharmacy setting, a feasibility project was established to evaluate the training process, identify potential barriers and enablers to implementation alongside a time and motion study. The time and motion arm of this study, documenting the increase in patient focused activities on the part of the pharmacists, are reported in a separate article …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The time and motion arm of this study, documenting the increase in patient focused activities on the part of the pharmacists, are reported in a separate article. [11] A significant barrier to the implementation of any new process is the 'buy-in' from those involved. [12,13] It was therefore vital to understand the opinions and experiences of the staff in the sites participating in the pilot project to determine barriers and facilitators expected during the 'roll out' phase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences of pharmacy staff during the introduction of the checking technician role in New Zealand

Napier

Norris

Green

et al. 2018

International Journal of Pharmacy Practice

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Objectives To investigate the experiences of the participants in a study introducing a Pharmacy Accuracy Checking Technician (PACT) role, and specifically their perceptions of any advantages and disadvantages. Methods Self‐administered surveys were distributed during the introduction of a checking technician role in eight community and four hospital pharmacy sites. Surveys were conducted at three time points; at baseline, at mid‐point and a final data collection. Questions covered staff perceptions on; technicians’ ability to take on this role, impact on workflow, impact on pharmacists’ time spent with patients and any perceived advantages or disadvantages. Key findings Three hundred and fifty‐five responses were received from participants. There was significant support for the introduction of this new role, and the greatest advantage identified was an increase in time available to pharmacists to increase potential clinical activities. Many staff felt that this role could easily fit into their current workplace and workflow with minor adjustments. There was a perception that this new role would increase safety and decrease errors as a result of the separation of clinical and checking tasks. Respondents identified a need for more technicians; however, conversely concern was expressed of a negative impact on the number of pharmacists’ jobs. Conclusions Despite the disruption caused by the training process, the respondents believed this new role to be beneficial to both staff and patients, and that the new model would allow for increased error identification and enhanced safety.

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“…Hospital pharmacy technicians often work on wards to support clinical pharmacists, and their roles in the UK have expanded with the final accuracy checking of dispensed prescriptions, and completion and documentation of medication histories,6 where their accuracy in completing medication histories has been reported as effective as pharmacists and other healthcare professionals 7 8…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of pharmacy technicians’ and doctors’ medication transcribing errors at hospital discharge

Lloyd

2018

Eur J Hosp Pharm

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ObjectivesTo compare the transcribing error rates of discharge prescriptions between pharmacy technicians and doctors in an acute hospital setting.MethodsPharmacy technicians were trained in the transcribing of discharge medications from inpatient to discharge medication charts. Prospective prescribing audits were undertaken over 5 days on eight hospital medical wards by ward pharmacists to compare pharmacy technician (on four wards) and doctor (on four wards) discharge transcribing error rates. Transcribed discharge medications were compared with the inpatient medication list by ward pharmacists to identify any transcription errors. Transcribing data for each technician and doctor, and number of items and errors, were input into SPSS and analysed using relevant statistical tests.ResultsDoctors (n=12) transcribed 77 discharge prescriptions, and 678 items with 127 errors recorded (18.7% error rate). Pharmacy technicians (n=8) transcribed 63 discharge prescriptions, and 654 items with 25 errors recorded (3.8% error rate), a significant difference between groups in error frequency (χ2(1)=58.6, p=<0.005) with a 14.9% difference between groups.ConclusionsPharmacy technicians have significantly lower discharge transcribing error rates compared with doctors. This service intervention has the potential to improve patient safety and minimise inefficiencies from correcting errors. Further work is needed to explore the views and opinions of service users of the intervention, and why technician-transcribing error rates are significantly lower than doctors.

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Introducing a checking technician allows pharmacists to spend more time on patient-focused activities

Cited by 29 publications

References 16 publications

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

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

Experiences of pharmacy staff during the introduction of the checking technician role in New Zealand

Comparison of pharmacy technicians’ and doctors’ medication transcribing errors at hospital discharge

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