These stories can discredit the 200 000-plus dedicated technicians nationwide who are valued resources to pharmacists and consumers. The position of the National Pharmacy Technician Association is that technicians should be required to pass a national exam, complete proper standardized training, and register with their State Board of Pharmacy in an effort to prevent medication errors.[1,22,27] The National Pharmacy Technician Association also suggests that chain drug stores should lobby their boards of pharmacy to institute more stringent technician requirements. Such changes may decrease medication errors and help restore public confidence in pharmacy.[28]

In accordance with the Joint Commission of Pharmacy DAPT order Practitioners’ Torin 1 nmr Vision Statement, the NABP Task Force on Standardized Pharmacy Technician Education and Training suggested in 2009 its Model State Pharmacy Act be amended to recommend that all state boards of pharmacy require certification of pharmacy technicians by the year 2015. This recommendation was approved by NABP’s executive committee, and serves as encouragement to state boards of pharmacy to require technician certification by the PTCB.[29] The increasing need for pharmacy technicians is related to myriad changing dynamics in the healthcare system over the past decade. A growing demand for clinically focused pharmaceutical care, greater use of prescription drugs, a renewed

emphasis on medication safety and the growth of retail pharmacy have made the need for experienced, trained pharmacy technicians an important component to support understaffed pharmacies.[30] The concomitant increased demand for pharmacists is related to factors including expansion of pharmacists’ practice roles and non-traditional job markets, limited implementation of automation and pharmacy technicians, inefficiencies in the workplace and the greater number of female pharmacists who work part time. While the number of both pharmacy technicians (284 421) and pharmacists (392 097) continues to grow, it still lags behind market demand and projections.[28,31,32]

Because of pharmacist shortages, chain pharmacies in particular have become heavily dependent on pharmacy technicians to perform a wider variety of tasks including prescription input, medication counting and filling, and as cashiers. These MTMR9 changes in responsibilities have prompted discussion regarding the appropriate pharmacist/technician ratio as there is no nationally recognized ratio.[33] The ratio is based on the number of technicians a pharmacist is capable of adequately supervising while still ensuring a high level of prescription safety. Some states have ratios that vary based on the practice setting or on the presence of certified technicians versus uncertified technicians (Table 1[33]). According to the ASHP, there are currently 159 pharmacy technician training programmes in 38 US states.