The role of a pharmacy technician includes such tasks as order-filling, administrative, and customer service duties that free up pharmacists to do the specialized work they were trained to do. Other duties include record keeping, inventory management, and cashiering.
Since the pharmacy technician field is somewhat new, yet quickly growing, only about half of the states require formal off the job training. However, on the job training is offered by many large corporations in the health care industry.
Why is certification important for those wanting to become a pharmacy technician?
Due to many factors such as the increasing age of the population, more and more seniors and even middle aged people are in need of prescription medications, contributing to the explosion of the pharmacy industry – and the ability to treat illnesses that were previously untreatable.
This contributes to a higher demand of pharmacies in general, and with increased business comes an increased need for workers in the pharmacy field in many organization types, such as hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living centers and surgery centers. Along with this increased demand and workload comes the possibility of more errors in order filling and related tasks, which necessitates higher qualified personnel in reducing these errors to increase the level of safety for patients.
States That Require Certification
As stated above, an increased number of states are requiring formal education, but as of today, only a few require certification for pharmacy technicians. As of 2011, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming all require certification. All of these states have passed legislation requiring pharmacy technician certification as a result of the realization that well trained certified technicians increase the level of consumer safety. For a more comprehensive look at the certification requirements by state, visit the National Healthcare Association website.
Certification Requirements for Pharmacy Technicians Going Forward
There is no doubt that with the aging overall population, and the decrease in pharmacy errors by well trained and certified pharmacy technicians, more states will require certification along with additional training and continuing education going forward.
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