Outpatient pharmacy technicians are assistants to the pharmacist in which they distribute medication to patients under a physician’s order. Outpatient pharmacy technicians must have extensive knowledge in medicine, be able to follow orders set by a pharmacist and have good customer service toward patients. Retail experience is also a plus. Although a college degree is not required, an outpatient pharmacy technician has to obtain certification from the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board to administer medicine to patients. There are other duties to being an outpatient pharmacy technician.
Assistant Pharmacist
Outpatient pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists by filling in and distributing medication to patients. The technician will refer to the pharmacist any problems a specific medication might pose to a patient, for example.
Assisting Patients
The outpatient pharmacy technician also helps patients with prescription intake and pick up through the pharmacy window, conducts patients’ transactions on a cash register and answers patients’ prescription requests either through the window or on the phone.
Inventory
An outpatient pharmacy technician is also responsible for conducting daily inventory by checking drug supply, restocking shelves, rotating medicine on shelves and removing items that may have expired from shelves.
Deliverer
Sometimes an outpatient pharmacy technician will have to mail out prescriptions to patients or, depending on the patient’s health condition, will have to deliver prescriptions personally to a patient’s address.
Administrative Work
Duties include typing medication labels, packaging medication, entering prescription information into the computer system, handling invoices for vendors, ordering medication and supplies and managing insurance claims.
