It is one of the vital fields of the healthcare industry which has attracted a large number of people to pursue a career in this field. As per the information provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job opportunities in this field is expected to grow by thirty two percent in the coming years which will even cross the national average growth of the nation.
As per a survey, a pharmacy technician can earn as high as $40,710 and as low as $19,840 with an hourly wage between $9.54 and $19.57. The basic factors which impact the salaries of the pharmacy technicians are the size and the type of the pharmacies where they work as well as the experience and qualification of the pharmacy technician himself. Though there are no set state laws or federal regulations for the basic educational qualification required for becoming a pharmacy technician but, with the increased demand for well trained healthcare professionals, employers give work opportunities to those who are better qualified and hold certification degrees. Certified technicians earn more than those who are non-certified. Apart from this, certified and well qualified technicians also enjoy various other benefits like paid sick leave, insurance or an aided educational training.
Though obtaining a certificate is not a primary requisite for working as a pharmacy technician but, it certainly increase chances for the technicians to get hired easily and at better pay packages. A pharmacy technician basically works under the supervision and guidance of a licensed pharmacist.
The chief responsibilities of a pharmacy technician consist of providing medication to the patients. For this, the technician receives written prescriptions given by the pharmacists to the patients and refill the requests approved by the pharmacists. Their duty is also to check whether the patient’s information is correct and to ensure that every record is maintained appropriately.
He provides healthcare service to the patients and helps the pharmacist in resolving general queries of the customers. Apart from this, he also helps in preparing medical insurance claim forms and records.
A pharmacy technician counts the number of pills prescribed by the pharmacist to the patient to ensure that the correct dose is given to the patient. He fills the bottles with the prescribed medications and keeps a computerized record of the stock of medications and supplies. The task of labeling of the medicine bottles is also done by the pharmacy technician to make the process of offering medication convenient.
Apart from these primary responsibilities, there are also various tasks performed by a pharmacy technician like resolving the queries of the customers over phone by following appropriate customer service skills. He performs some administrative tasks like maintaining the account register and keeping a computerized record of all the information. He delivers medications to the patients and calculates the total amount for all the supplied medications and equipments to the hospital patients and nursing stations. The working environment for a pharmacy technician mainly consists of hospitals, health and personal care stores, medical stores, retail or mail-order pharmacies, assisted-living centers and nursing homes.
Pharmacy technicians who get an opportunity to work with retail or mail-order pharmacies process prescriptions electronically sent by doctors’ offices. Apart from this, technicians employed in nursing homes and assisted-living centers do the job of preparing sterile solutions and deliver them to nurses or physicians.
To do all these tasks efficiently, a pharmacy technician should be equipped with certain professional and personal traits. He should be able to deliver magnificent customer service. The technician should have refined communication skills to pacify the customers politely. As the main task is of reading the prescription so, the technician should have excellent reading skills. He should have also basic knowledge of mathematics to do the calculation for maintaining the financial records.
So, this was a brief description of the primary responsibilities of a pharmacy technician with the explanation of the personal and professional traits required to fulfill those responsibilities.
