New Patient Safety Bill Tightens Education, Training Requirements for Pharmacy Technicians
Pharmacy Group Says Stricter Standards Key to Protecting South Carolinians
Columbia, S.C.—Representative Kit Spires along with the bi-partisan support of 21 legislative co-sponsors introduced H.3394, legislation which will lead to improvements in patient safety by ensuring that pharmacy technicians meet appropriate education, training, and certification requirements.
The bill would amend the South Carolina Pharmacy Practice Act to require that, beginning July 1, 2012, new pharmacy technicians must complete an accredited educational training program and have required pharmacist-supervised work experience to practice in the state. It also requires that pharmacy technicians successfully pass an examination by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board or another national certification program, as approved by the Board of Pharmacy.
Current South Carolina regulations only require a pharmacy technician to submit $40 and a completed registration application. Other professions require extensive formal education under South Carolina law, including dental technicians (2 years), anesthesiologist assistants (4 years), veterinary technicians (2 years), cosmetologists (1,500 hours), and estheticians (450 hours). Pharmacy technicians are not currently required to have any formal education, even though they are on the front-lines, handling prescription medications that are distributed to South Carolinians. Within South Carolina, there are eight technical colleges that are currently accredited to provide pharmacy technician education, along with the training programs that are provided by Walgreens and CVS.
“Our goal is to improve patient safety in all health-care settings by enhancing the education and training of pharmacy technicians in South Carolina,”saidFred Bender,PharmD,SCSHP President. “This legislation will help ensure that pharmacy technicians are better prepared to take on their duties in pharmacies throughout the state.”
Pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists in all areas of prescription preparation, from entering prescriptions into the computer system to packaging, labeling and interacting directly with patients. Technicians working in hospitals are involved in the dispensing of all medications, as well as the preparation of sterile IV products, like chemotherapy and epidurals.
In a recent survey of SCSHP members, pharmacists who live and work in South Carolina were asked if it would be in the public interest to require that all pharmacy technicians meet a consistent standard for education and training. More than 90 percent of those surveyed responded that they either agree or strongly agree with that statement. Pharmacists noted that ‘there needs to be one set of standards’ and that ‘it is important for the general public to know that the people behind the counter are qualified to be there.’
This safety issue has received national media attention with USA Today, Good Morning America, 20/20, and World News Tonight, all reporting on the tragic and deadly results of medication errors involving pharmacy technicians.
The South Carolina Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SCSHP) has worked closely with Representative Spires on H.3394. The South Carolina Society, along with other state societies of health-system pharmacists and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, is part of a national initiative to standardize education, training, and certification requirements for all pharmacy technicians.
The mission of the South Carolina Society of Health-System Pharmacists is to support and promote safe and effective pharmacy care for every person in the state of South Carolina.