It’s not even a choice for a pharmacist between an applicant with pharmacy technician certification or someone who doesn’t have one, because a pharmacist knows which one is more valuable inside the pharmacy. Needless to say, the certified pharmacy technician is the obvious choice between the two applicants. A pharmacist or any employer prefer those individuals that have passed the pharmacy technician certification exam of either the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board or the Institute for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians, even though a high school diploma is all that is needed. Finishing a formal training from a reputable school should be a good additional qualification for any pharmacy technician.
It takes a survey sponsored by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board to finally have a more concrete answer on the importance of pharmacy technicians for the pharmacists they’re working for. The PTCB-sponsored survey showed that 80% of the pharmacists surveyed acknowledged that pharmacy technician certification helps in “reducing medication errors, ensuring patient safety, and increasing positive health outcomes”. Those pharmacists also said that they were able to spend more time in direct patient care if they have reliable, well-trained and certified pharmacy technicians, that they are confident that the patients’ needs and requirements will be well taken care of by these pharmacy technicians.
Last March 2010, during the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Annual Meeting, the survey results were first unveiled. Shane Desselle and Michael Schmitt of the University of Oklahoma, College of Pharmacy, wherein they asked the importance of pharmacy technician certification to a random sample of over 3,250 pharmacists working in various setting all across the United States. The survey was able to give a more quantifiable proof on this long-held belief that pharmacy technician certification is important for anyone who wants to succeed in this healthcare field. This explains why PTCB certified pharmacy technicians are preferred by pharmacists and other employers.
For most pharmacists, pharmacy technician certification is very important because of another thing, malpractice lawsuits. Unlike before when disputes are settled through discussions and mediations, today, lawsuits are being filed any time there are disputes. The most sued industry in the country today may be the healthcare industry because patients have come to an impression that healthcare providers are guarantors of positive results always, and when they don’t get that result, they may file malpractice lawsuits. Because of that, pharmacists and other healthcare providers prefer their employees be formally trained and certified because a certification means their employees are competent in doing their jobs, hence, they can be defended better in case of lawsuits against them.
The work of a pharmacist has evolved through time, that whereas before, they just dispense and fill prescriptions, now they are more involved directly in patient care. Pharmacists are also relying more on pharmacy technicians in serving patients everyday, because the number of patients are constantly increasing each year due to a number of factors. When a pharmacist’s work becomes more complex, a pharmacy technician’s work goes the same way, too. Therefore, pharmacists need to make sure that they’re hiring competent people, and that’s why pharmacy technician certification is important. You may need to invest time, money, and effort in obtaining your certification, but you will be amply rewarded through higher salaries and better opportunities for career advancements.
