Fred M. Eckel, RPh, MS
Pharmacy Times Editor-in-Chief
Mr. Eckel is professor and director of
the Office of Practice Development
and Education at the School of
Pharmacy, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill.
Most other health care professions
require standard qualifications
for personnel who assist
in delivering health care. This helps
create a framework for safely delivering
care. For example, a clear division exists
between the optometrist, who exercises
professional judgment in performing eye
examinations and writing prescriptions,
and the qualified opticians who fit and
help patients select eyeglasses. These
roles take full advantage of the differing
educational and skill levels of everyone
involved, and they are well understood
and accepted by patients.
Pharmacy may be the only major
health care profession that remains an
exception to this rule. Pharmacy still
lacks universally applied standards that
ensure that all technicians are qualified
to take on the same routine tasks.
We have, of course, made progress. A
quarter of a million technicians have
achieved certification from the Pharmacy
Technician Certification Board (PTCB) and
are applying their training to support
pharmacists nationwide.
I believe that, as a profession, we have
not adequately dealt with the issue of
delegation to qualified supportive personnel.
It is time that we did so.
This idea is rapidly gaining support. For
example, the American Pharmacists Association
(APhA) has been working on
defining a policy for pharmacy technician
education and training, encapsulated in 5
proposed policy statements presented at
its recent annual meeting.
On the one hand, these statements
reaffirm pharmacists' authority for controlling
the distribution process and the
personnel involved and their responsibility
for completed medication orders. At
the same time, the statements support
the growth and universal use of accreditation
programs. The statements encourage
state boards to require, by 2015, that
all new pharmacy technicians complete
an accredited education and training program
and become PTCB-certified. The
proposal also supports required state
board licensure for pharmacy technicians
and encourages boards to develop
a process for current technicians to
become licensed.
One reason that we need to make progress
is explained in the APhA statement:
"Pharmacists must establish a framework
that justifies the confidence of its patients in
those who care for them." Other reasons
exist as well. Unless we are able to delegate,
it will be difficult for us to move into
advisory health care roles that really require
a pharmacist's professional judgment.
Pharmacy technicians have a major
role to play. Even though some of us remain
concerned about delegating to technicians,
the evidence suggests that welltrained
technicians can perform routine
tasks. It is time that we establish universal
standards that ensure the competence
of technicians and recognize their role.
