Drug Topics - November 10, 2008 - (Page 18)

Regulatory & Law TECHNICIAN REGULATION GOVERNMENT Fred Gebhart Florida joins states regulating pharmacy technicians Florida is the latest state to regulate pharmacy technicians. About 15,000 of the 40,000 pharmacy techs working in the state are currently certiﬁed by the Pharmacy Technician Certiﬁcation Board. “We have been working on the certiﬁcation issue for years,” Michael Jackson, executive vice president of the Florida Pharmacists Association, said. “Some of the stories that have surfaced about errors involving technicians piqued our legislators’ interest. Florida, like many states, was without any kind of Michael Jackson [regulation]. All that was required to work as a tech in Florida was that you wear a name badge.” The sunshine state’s new requirements include registration with the state Board of Pharmacy by Jan. 1, 2010. By Jan. 1, 2011, all techs working in the state must have completed a board-approved training program that includes at least 1,500 hours of work under the supervision of a Florida-licensed pharmacist, or they must have obtained PTCB certiﬁcation offered by either the PTCB or the competing Institute of Certiﬁed Pharmacy Technicians (ICPT). The goal, Jackson said, is to eliminate haphazard on-the-job training programs. Patient safety can be enhanced with a structured training program that leads to an accredited certiﬁcation. “We have come to rely more and more on our techs for tasks that used to be done by pharmacists,” he said. “We pharmacists are increasingly devoting our time and attention to patient treatment and care. The technician has to know that there are a lot of important care decisions that are taken as a part of the dispensing process. And pharmacists have to know that the technician has been trained to make those decisions appropriately.” Setting technician standards is a state ing for uniform national certification issue, Catizone noted. The foundations standards. of national technician standards are al“We are calling for techs to have ready in place. ASHP certiﬁes tech train- completed an accredited training proing programs nationwide and PTCB ad- gram and become certified,” Doug ministers certiﬁcation testing nationally. Scheckelhoff, ASHP director, pharmacy It’s up the individual states to incorporate practice sessions, said. “We have estabthose elements into their own pharmacy lished uniform, mandatory certiﬁcation practice acts and regulations. as an advocacy priority.” “It is no longer a question of if a state Fifteen state affiliates are backing should move on technician regulation, national certiﬁcation standards, Scheckbut of when and how they will move,” elhoff said, and more associations are PTCB executive director Melissa Corri- considering the move. gan said. “Technicians are so key to the “States are receptive to the idea that provision of appropriate health care to- given the changing role of pharmacists in day. For pharmacists to step health care, there needs to be up to medication therapy something more for technimanagement and direct pacians than on-the-job traintient care, they need trained ing,” he said. POWER POINTS and qualiﬁed help.” Texas was the ﬁrst state Only eight states lack According to the Nationto require certiﬁcation for pharmacy technician al Association of Boards of its 50,000 pharmacy techs. regulation. The other Pharmacy, only eight states, The requirement took ef41 states and the Colorado, Delaware, Georfect in 2001, state Board of District of Columbia regulate techs. gia, Michigan, New York, Pharmacy executive direcOhio, Pennsylvania, and tor Gay Dodson said. Florida will require Wisconsin, lack tech regu“The Board felt strongregistration with lation. The other 41 states ly that we needed a better its state Board of and the District of Columtrained and better qualiPharmacy by 2010. bia all regulate techs. fied person to deal with “As recently as a few medications,” she said. years ago, it was tough just Texas implemented getting the word ‘techniregistration requirements cian’ into state pharmacy acts,” NABP for pharmacy personnel in 2004. Iniexecutive director Carmen Catizone tial registration included about 74,000 said. “Now there is signiﬁcant move- pharmacists and techs. The list has since ment toward some sort of regulation grown to more than 80,000. “We would or licensure for technicians. The next like to see similar standards nationally,” step is uniform national standards for Dodson said. “We would like to see rectechnician certiﬁcation.” iprocity at the technician level.” Both the American Pharmacists AsPTCB has certified more than sociation and the American Society of 310,000 techs since the program began HealthSystem Pharmacists are push- in 1995. W W W.D R U GTO P I C S .C O M 18 DRUG TOPICS N OV. 10, 2008 http://WWW.DRUGTOPICS.COM

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Drug Topics - November 10, 2008 Contents Up Front Up Front in Depth Letters Rx Care Government Community Practice First Responders Clinical Practice Self-Care FDA Safety Page Weighing the Complications of Obesity New Products Viewpoint

Drug Topics - November 10, 2008

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