Toward uniform standards for pharmacy technicians: Summary of the 2017 Pharmacy Technician Stakeholder Consensus Conference.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Zellmer WA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6407485 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:On March 24 and 25, 2017 researchers and clinicians from around the world met at Temple University in Philadelphia to discuss the current knowledge of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and its relationship to human disease. The conference was held because of shared concern that MAP is a zoonotic bacterium that poses a threat not only to animal health but also human health. In order to further study this problem, the conferees discussed ways to improve MAP diagnostic tests and discussed potential future anti-MAP clinical trials. The conference proceedings may be viewed on the www.Humanpara.org website. A summary of the salient work in this field is followed by recommendations from a majority of the conferees.
| S-EPMC5623710 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionUnderstanding how pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy support workforce cadres assist pharmacists in the healthcare system will facilitate developing health systems with the ability to achieve universal health coverage as it is defined in different country contexts. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the present global variety in the technician and other pharmacy support workforce cadres considering; their scope, roles, supervision, education and legal framework.Material and methodsA structured online survey instrument was administered globally using the Survey Monkey platform, designed to address the following topic areas: roles, responsibilities, supervision, education and legislation. The survey was circulated to International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) member organisations and a variety of global list serves where pharmaceutical services are discussed.Results193 entries from 67 countries and territories were included in the final analysis revealing a vast global variety with respect to the pharmacy support workforce.Roles and competencyFrom no pharmacy technicians or other pharmacy support workforce cadres in Japan, through a variety of cadre interactions with pharmacists, to the autonomous practice of pharmacy support workforce cadres in Malawi.ResponsibilitiesFrom strictly supervised practice with a focus on supply, through autonomous practice for a variety of responsibilities, to independent practice.SupervisionFrom complete supervision for all tasks, through geographical varied supervision, to independent practice.EducationFrom on the job training, through certificate level vocational courses, to 3-4 year diploma programs.Legislation, regulation and liabilityFrom well-regulated and registered, through part regulation with weak implementation, to completely non-regulated contexts.ConclusionThis paper documents wide differences in supervision requirements, education systems and supportive legislation for pharmacy support workforce cadres globally. A more detailed understanding of specific country practice settings is required if the use of pharmacy support workforce cadres is to be optimized.
| S-EPMC5317197 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC8042193 | biostudies-literature
Project description:(1) Background: pharmacy technicians are the largest group of staff at Danish community pharmacies and play a vital role in counselling customers on prescription medication, over-the-counter (OTC) medication and non-medical products. This is the first study carried out to specifically analyse how they contribute to counselling and identification of drug-related problems (DRPs) at Danish community pharmacies. (2) Methods: seventy-six pharmacy technicians from 38 community pharmacies registered data on all of their customer visits for five days, over a four-week period, between January and March 2019. Data were analysed in SPSS version 24. (3) Results: 58.9% of all registered customers (n = 10,417) received counselling. They identified DRPs for 15.8% of all registered customers (n = 2800). Counselling by pharmacy technicians solved, or partially solved, problems for 70.4% of customers with DRPs. Pharmacy technicians estimated that 25.2% of customers receiving counselling (n = 2621) were saved a visit to the general practitioner (GP). (4) Conclusions: as community pharmacists get more involved in complex services, it would be necessary to expand the roles of pharmacy technicians. Pharmacy technicians contribute to medication safety via counselling, and identifying and handling DRPs for all customers. This study documents the role of pharmacy technicians in customer counselling at Danish community pharmacies. It provides evidence to researchers and policy makers to support discussions on the future role of pharmacy technicians at community pharmacies.
| S-EPMC7151659 | biostudies-literature
Project description:New tasks are being developed for pharmacy technicians in community practice. The objectives of this study were to (1) assess the willingness of community pharmacy technicians to perform new tasks, and (2) to identify factors affecting technicians in assuming new tasks in community pharmacy practice. An online survey asked about the respondent characteristics, involvement in pharmacy technician tasks, willingness to perform emerging pharmacy technician tasks, and influences on pharmacy technicians' performance of emerging tasks. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all items. A total of 639 usable surveys from community pharmacy technicians were used in the analyses. The respondents reported a mean of 11.5 years working as a pharmacy technician, with 79.2% working full time. Technicians reported high willingness to perform four emerging tasks, moderate willingness for six tasks, and low willingness to perform two tasks. The low willingness tasks were administering a vaccination and drawing a blood sample with a finger stick. Four workplace influences on willingness to perform emerging tasks were insufficient staffing, insufficient time to complete additional tasks, employers not classifying technicians based on specialized skills, and usually feeling stress at work. It appears likely that pharmacy technicians will be willing to perform the new tasks needed to support the emerging patient care services in community pharmacies.
| S-EPMC6306904 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:Despite being regulated and spoken about as professionals, there is little formal research examining professional identity formation among regulated pharmacy technicians. Methods:A semistructured interview protocol was generated, based on Holden et al.'s typology of professional identity formation (PIF). Regulated pharmacy technicians in Ontario with a minimum of 2 years' experience working a minimum of 32 hours/week were recruited to participate. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed based on professional identity formation. Results:A total of 15 regulated pharmacy technicians from southern Ontario participated in this study. Regardless of demographic background, most participants demonstrated identity splinting as the dominant form of professional identity formation. Issues related to social valuing of the role of the technician and environmental opportunities to develop and grow were highlighted as significant barriers. Interpretation:These findings suggest regulated pharmacy technicians have incomplete professional identities due in part to reasons linked to pharmacists and the pharmacy profession. The type of professional identity expressed by participants in this study may limit opportunities for full and optimal expression of their role. Conclusions:Further work is necessary to better understand the professional identity formation of regulated pharmacy technicians, to help support the evolution of this role. Can Pharm J (Ott) 2020;153:xx-xx.
| S-EPMC6966276 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:Since 2010, most provincial Colleges of Pharmacists have licensed pharmacy technicians. The colleges hoped this would give pharmacists time to provide "expanded scope" activities such as medication reviews. Little is known, however, about the uptake and impact of pharmacy technicians on pharmacists' provision of such services. We address these questions using data for Ontario community pharmacies. Methods:Data on pharmacists and pharmacy technicians were obtained from the Ontario College of Pharmacists website in September 2016. Their place of employment was used to calculate the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) pharmacists and technicians employed at each community pharmacy. Pharmacy claims data for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2016, were obtained from the Ontario Public Drug Programs (OPDP). These data included number of MedsChecks performed, type of MedsCheck and number of prescriptions dispensed to OPDP beneficiaries. Results:Pharmacy technicians were employed in 24% of the pharmacies in our sample. Technician employment rates were highest in Central Fill pharmacies and pharmacies serving long-term care facilities. In general, pharmacies employing 1 or fewer technician full-time equivalents (FTEs) had a slightly higher probability of providing MedsChecks and, of those that did provide Meds Checks Annuals, provided more of them. Pharmacies that hired 3 or more technician FTEs were markedly less likely to provide MedsChecks. Conclusions:Pharmacies differ in their employment of technicians and in the apparent impact of technicians on the provision of MedsChecks. However, these represent associations. Additional research is needed to assess the causal effect of technician employment on the provision of MedsChecks.
| S-EPMC5958440 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC8042196 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:The integration of regulated pharmacy technicians (RPTs) into community pharmacy practice was intended to relieve pharmacists of certain technical duties to facilitate greater provision of direct patient care services, commensurate with expanded scope of practice. There is scant data available regarding the success, value and impact of RPT integration, either in Canada or in other jurisdictions. Methods:Pharmacists and RPTs working in community practices were interviewed. Qualitative data were categorized using an iterative coding process to identify themes related to barriers and facilitators to integrating and optimizing the role of the RPT in community practice in Ontario. Results:A total of 16 RPTs and 12 pharmacists were interviewed from community sites in Ontario. Strategies for facilitating successful integration of RPTs into daily workflow were identified, based on 4 major themes: environmental factors, interpersonal factors, professional identity formation and innovative use of delegation. Interpretation:Integration of RPTs into community practice is complex and requires careful management, planning, training and follow-up to ensure attainment of objectives. Simply hiring RPTs and placing them into existing workflow patterns is generally not a successful implementation strategy. Conclusions:Implementation strategies identified through this study can provide employers, managers, pharmacists and RPTs with opportunities to enhance RPT integration and optimize the role of both pharmacists and RPTs in community practice.
| S-EPMC5958432 | biostudies-literature