Department of Pharmacotherapy, University of Utah College of Pharmacy, Salt Lake City, UT.
Granger Medical Clinic, West Valley City, UT, USA.
Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2022 Mar 7;79(6):460-466. doi: 10.1093/ajhp/zxab391.
As the pharmacist's role expands, particularly in primary care practice settings, there is an opportunity for expansion of pharmacy technician duties to aid in administrative and clinical tasks that do not require the pharmacist's professional judgment. Identifying, defining, and expanding the roles of pharmacy technicians has been deemed a key part of the pharmacy practice model. These roles have been shown to enhance pharmacist efficiency and patient outreach; however, examples of the various innovative activities performed by technicians in the primary care setting are lacking in the literature.
The duties of primary care pharmacy technicians were compiled and defined in 2 different healthcare systems. The role of the technician was separately implemented at each institution, and study designs and protocols were individually created and executed. One institution utilized a 4-round consensus-building process to systematically refine and codify tasks for a dictionary of duties. The second institution utilized a free-text survey, task documentation data in the electronic medical record, and a telephone discussion with the technicians.
Despite a lack of methods- and data-sharing between the 2 institutions, similar tasks were identified, including conducting patient outreach, assisting with medication affordability and access, providing patient education, managing referrals, and scheduling appointments. Differences in technician involvement were noted in areas such as prior authorization, care coordination meetings, and quality improvement projects.
Pharmacy technicians are a helpful, yet underutilized, resource in the primary care setting. Further exploration of technician roles is needed to determine the financial and clinical impact of expanding these roles.
随着药剂师角色的不断扩大，特别是在基层医疗实践环境中，药剂技术员的职责也有机会扩大，以帮助完成不需要药剂师专业判断的行政和临床任务。确定、定义和扩展药剂技术员的角色被认为是药房实践模式的关键部分。这些角色已被证明可以提高药剂师的工作效率并扩大患者服务范围；然而，文献中缺乏基层医疗环境中技术员执行的各种创新活动的例子。
在两个不同的医疗系统中编译和定义了基层医疗药剂技术员的职责。技术员在每个机构中的角色分别实施，并单独创建和执行研究设计和方案。一个机构利用四轮共识建立过程，对任务进行系统地细化和编码，以形成职责字典。第二个机构利用自由文本调查、电子病历中的任务文档数据以及与技术员的电话讨论。
尽管两个机构之间缺乏方法和数据共享，但仍确定了类似的任务，包括开展患者外联、协助药物可负担性和可及性、提供患者教育、管理转诊和安排预约。在预先授权、护理协调会议和质量改进项目等领域，技术员的参与程度存在差异。
药剂技术员是基层医疗环境中非常有帮助但未被充分利用的资源。需要进一步探索技术员的角色，以确定扩大这些角色对财务和临床的影响。
