Be Ready for an Expanding Tech Scope of Practice

Top Takeaways

• Expanded technician roles can improve job satisfaction and process efficiency.
• NASPA’s consensus guidance may drive changes to state laws.

The pharmacy technician scope of authority will continue to grow in the coming years.

This is welcome news for many since it can enhance job satisfaction and improve the efficiency of pharmacy operations.

Plus it frees up pharmacists to perform direct patient care services...and helps advance the profession of pharmacy.

Explain that National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA) convened a workgroup to iron out inconsistencies in practice and laws across states...and recommend tasks that techs can safely and effectively perform. Your state may already allow some of these.

The recommendations include:

• Accepting verbal prescriptions for new orders and refills
• Transferring prescriptions (some states exclude controlled substances)
• Operating automated dispensing systems
• Filling Rxs at a remote pharmacy location, or “technology assisted filling”
• Verifying final products, or TPV “technician product verification” (excluding compounded sterile preparations)
• Sterile and nonsterile compounding
• Administering vaccines and other medications
• Administering point-of-care tests

Expect this guidance to lead states to consider new legislation over time...to adopt these best practices. As laws and rules in your state evolve, be ready to help your pharmacy implement new processes.

For example, Colorado recently passed legislation to allow TPV...joining more than half of the US states that already permit it.

If you or your team needs training, suggest our Pharmacy Technicians University. Our PTU Elite offers programs such as Immunizations, Point-of-Care Testing, and more...including our new Technician Product Verification (TPV) program.