What does a Pharmacy technician do day to day?
July 9th, 2010Pharmacy technicians do a wide variety of things when they are at work. Regardless of what type of setting that a person works in, these duties tend to be the same in a drug store or at a hospital. One of the biggest duties of the pharmacy technician is to assist the pharmacist with their work.
The pharmacy technician will help the pharmacist when it comes to labelling and filing the prescriptions, as well as help the patients when they are dropping off or picking up their prescription. The technician will enter the prescription into the computer and verify that the prescription is correct. Part of customer service will also include assisting with outpatient dispensing as well as inpatient dispensing. The pharmacy technician will help or create compounds whether they are a solution, ointment or a cream. They will also help to prepare compound total nutrition solutions and large volumes of intravenous mixtures. They may also assist with packing bulk medications and preparing chemotherapeutic agents.
No job is complete without some administrative duties, and the pharmacy technician is no exception. Some of the administrative work that a technician will do is working with insurance agencies in regards to payments and being able t fill prescriptions, screen phone calls for the pharmacists, as well as ordering medication when supplies get low. The pharmacy technician watches the inventory levels so that they know when items need to be ordered, and dealing with the purchasing and billing that goes with it. Another aspect of the job is to work on scheduling and maintaining the workflow at the pharmacy.
Of course, depending on where you are working will have a large impact as to what your exact job duties will be. If you really want to know, it never hurts to go to the workplace and ask the staff there, they are the best resource to tell you what their job involves.
The responsibilities that a pharmacy tech earns through experience while on the job will play a role in how much one can expect to earn on an annual basis. Other factors that influence the average pharmacy technician salary are, job location, school attainment, and job demand. Just as in any career, pay increases come with time and is not something that should be expected immediately.