Pharmacy techs usually work under the main pharmacist, and their work is to dispense prescriptions and over-the-counter medications to customers and other health professionals. They are also responsible for assembling the medications and providing information about it.
They can also be found in the hospital pharmacies, where they work under the hospital’s licensed pharmacist to give out medications and prescriptions. These are also the people who look over the written prescriptions and evaluate them while recording them to verify the information.
Now, to be a successful pharmacy tech, you should be able to display excellent communication skills and also have an affinity for great customer service. You should also be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.
Here Are Some Of The Main Responsibilities Of A Pharmacy Tech
If you are going to work in this position, you will be accepting the doctor’s written prescriptions from the customers and refilling them. You will also be evaluating the information on the prescriptions and ensuring their accuracy and completeness.
You will need to record the customer’s medical histories and maintain compliance and confidentiality with the HIPAA regulations. All while, delivering high-quality service to the patients, referring them to the pharmacist for additional medical information, responding to customer’s requests and inquiries, and being there for the customer’s every need.
You need to verify that the information provided by the patient is accurate. Ensure that you count the prescribed medication, typing and attaching the medication labels, and ensuring that you fill the prescriptions accurately.
Purchasing supplies and medications and also performed during inventory audits. While providing medicine to patients is your main responsibility, you will be responsible for processing patient insurance claims.
Requirements For Being A Pharmacy Technician
To qualify for this job, you must have attained the following education.
- A high school diploma or equivalence of the same.
- A pharmacy technician’s certification.
Additional skills required include excellent communication skills, the ability to use a computer on a day-to-day basis, basic math skills for use in counting the medications, customer service experience and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
Why Should You Consider This Job?
This job offers diverse career opportunities for both part-time as well as full-time work, especially for the technicians who have had formal and previous training experience. Additionally, healthcare service is one of the largest industries in the world and has got more than 11 million jobs.
As per the current projections, 10 out of 20 jobs that are bound to grow the fastest, are mainly concentrated in the health care service. It will take you less than 4 years to obtain a college education.
How To Get The Job
There are many different ways of obtaining a job in this field, which must include ensuring that you are formally trained for it. The following components are required in determining you get a job as a pharmacy technician.
Education level – you must have a higher level of education. You must have completed an accredited training program for technicians to become a more attractive candidate for the job. This will also help you advance faster and also help in boosting your technician’s salary.
Certification – a pharmacy technician certification is required, as it ensures that employers can see your knowledge and skills and that you can meet the high standards for professional patient care and practice.
Geographical location – this plays a big part in determining your salary. The employers in different areas pay more or less than the average salary for a pharmacy tech as per the local economy and also according to the cost of living in the area.
Conclusion
These are the ways you can qualify as a pharmacy technician, and these jobs come in high demand. They are ideal for people who would wish to work in the health industry, and they also allow you to deal with patients.
