Kristy Malacos - McGraw-Hill Education PTCE Review

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Congratulations on choosing to become a pharmacy technician! This book will help you prepare for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE). Each chapter is broken down into corresponding domains from the certification exam. Before we get started on test content, lets take a minute to review the pharmacy technician role and potential job opportunities.

Well also review the PTCE itself to make sure you are prepared for the structure and requirements of this exam. After reading Chapter 1, you will be able to: Explain the role of the pharmacy technician and importance to the healthcare team Identify different career paths for pharmacy technicians Understand the requirements and preparation needed to become a certified pharmacy technician Describe the content of the PTCE and requirements for continuing education Recognize strategies for exam preparation

A pharmacy technician is an integral part of the healthcare team and helps serve patients by supporting the pharmacist through the completion of a variety of important tasks. The role of the pharmacy technician is dependent upon practice setting, but typically includes filling prescriptions or medication orders; working with insurance companies to troubleshoot or gain approval of coverage; compounding IVs, chemotherapy, or nonsterile products; and being an active customer service agent of the pharmacy. Pharmacy technicians working in the community setting are based in a retail pharmacy. The pharmacy may be part of a large chain or smaller independent store. In the community setting, pharmacy technicians may input and fill prescriptions.

They may investigate insurance rejections; work on inventory, including over-the-counter (OTC) drugs; or wait on customers and ring out verified prescriptions. Institutional pharmacy technicians practice in hospitals or long-term care facilities. Hospital pharmacy technicians may compound IVs, repack unit dose medications, fill and maintain automated dispensing cabinets, and stock crash carts. Hospital technicians may interact with patients less than community pharmacy technicians, but instead may interact more with nursing staff and other healthcare providers. Pharmacy technicians may also compound chemotherapy in hospitals or in a designated cancer center. Long-term-care pharmacy technicians may also compound IVs and repack unit dose medications in larger packages for nursing home patients.

They may also fill orders for facilities or be part of the customer service team who helps answer nursing questions or direct orders to each facility. Other places pharmacy technicians may work is in a nuclear, compounding, or specialty pharmacy. Nuclear pharmacy technicians compound radiopharmaceuticals to be used for diagnostic testing or cancer treatment. Compounding technicians compound both sterile and nonsterile preparations for patient-specific use. These technicians often require additional training for compounding technique and calculations. Specialty pharmacy is a growing area involving the dispensing of high-dollar drugs used to treat complex disease states, such as multiple sclerosis.

Pharmacy technicians working in specialty pharmacy will review prescriptions and work with insurance providers on authorization for patient coverage. Mail-order pharmacies are an additional place for pharmacy technicians to work. In this setting, pharmacy technicians may package large amounts of medication to be shipped using packaging machines. Technicians may also review prescriptions, assess insurance coverage, and work on authorizations to have medications filled. Pharmacy technicians and pharmacists are in high demand in many settings, and because of this, the role of the technician is expanding to allow more time for the pharmacist to provide patient-centered care. Pharmacy technicians may take medication histories for patients upon admission to a hospital and reconcile home medication lists with what is currently prescribed.

This process is known as medication reconciliation (med rec), and med rec techs are becoming more popular with the increase in patient safety this role can provide. Additionally, community pharmacy technicians are becoming more active in medication therapy management (MTM). MTM is a service that pharmacists provide to patients where medications that are currently prescribed are reviewed to ensure the best outcome is achieved from the treatment. Technicians can assist with this process by monitoring MTM databases, examining patients adherence to medications, and notifying pharmacists of potential compliance issues. Because of this expansion of responsibilities, it is essential that pharmacy technicians have sufficient training and certification.