Pharmacy Assistant

The Pharmacy Technician plays a vital role in the pharmacy team, providing essential support to pharmacists in delivering safe and effective pharmaceutical care. This position involves various responsibilities, including medication preparation, inventory management, customer service, and administrative tasks.

1. Prescription Processing: Assist in processing and preparing prescription orders under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist, ensuring accuracy in capturing and documenting necessary details.
2. Medication Dispensing: Prepare and dispense prescription medications, including counting, measuring, and packaging the appropriate quantities, ensuring accuracy in labeling and verifying that the dispensed medications match the prescription orders.
3. Inventory Management: Assist in maintaining pharmacy inventory levels by monitoring stock, restocking medications, ensuring proper storage conditions, and performing regular inventory checks.
4. Customer Service: Provide friendly and professional customer service to patients and healthcare professionals, answering inquiries and addressing concerns regarding prescription medications or health-related products.
5. Prescription Filling: Retrieve medications from shelves, count, and label them accurately, and package them securely, preparing prescription orders for final verification by a pharmacist and ensuring timely delivery to patients.
6. Medication Reconciliation: Assist in conducting medication reconciliation processes to ensure accurate medication histories for patients, collaborating with healthcare providers and patients to gather necessary information and resolve discrepancies.
7. Insurance and Billing: Process insurance claims and facilitate the billing process for prescription medications, verifying insurance coverage, obtaining prior authorizations if required, and communicating with insurance providers to resolve any issues.
8. Pharmacy Operations Support: Perform various administrative tasks, such as maintaining patient records, filing prescriptions, answering phone calls, and organizing paperwork, ensuring confidentiality and adherence to privacy regulations when handling sensitive patient information.
9. Compliance and Safety: Adhere to all relevant laws, regulations, and pharmacy policies governing the practice of pharmacy, following proper procedures for handling controlled substances, maintaining accurate records, and ensuring compliance with medication safety protocols.
10. Continuous Learning: Stay updated on pharmacy practices, new medications, and industry developments through training programs, workshops, and self-directed learning, seeking opportunities for professional growth and development.

1. Transfer prescriptions to and from other pharmacies.
2. Take verbal prescriptions and/or obtain clarification for written, electronic, or faxed prescriptions from prescribers/prescriber's staff.
3. Update patient information, medication list, diagnosis codes, etc. in patients electronic medical record as appropriate based on medical records, prescription fill history, etc.
4. Administer immunizations to patients under the supervision of an Immunizing Pharmacist and upon completion of an appropriate certificate program.

This position may require off-site work, primarily by certified pharmacy technicians, but occasionally could include non-certified pharmacy technicians. Tasks that may need to be done off-site include administrative tasks for pharmacy operations, script data entry, and/or answering pharmacy phone calls remotely, attending conferences/meetings, complete trainings, etc.

1. Having a Pharmacy Technician Certification (CPhT) and previous pharmacy experience is not required but is strongly desired.
2. Maintain current and active certification (CPhT) or registration in the state of Tennessee.
3. Strong knowledge of pharmacy operations, prescription processing, and medication terminology.
4. Proficiency in using pharmacy software systems and technology for prescription processing and inventory management.
5. Excellent attention to detail, accuracy, and organizational skills.
6. Effective communication and interpersonal skills to interact with patients, healthcare professionals, and colleagues.
7. Ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced environment and handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
8. Understanding patient confidentiality and commitment to maintaining privacy and security of health information.
9. Be able to understand and operate necessary computer equipment and software programs.
10. Must have the ability to receive, interpret, and follow verbal and written instructions. Ability to speak a foreign language helpful.
11. Staff may frequently encounter situations that require independent problem solving and decision making.
12. Requires time management and organization skills.
13. Strong interpersonal skills are essential with an emphasis on written and verbal communication that focuses on customer service.
14. The ability to work as a part of a TEAM – as a part of the pharmacy staff, as well as a part of HOPE.
15. Requires sufficient visual acuity to be able to read and write and operate equipment common to this position.
16. Required to read, write, and speak English with the ability to speak a foreign language helpful.
17. Requires sufficient hearing level to be able to effectively communicate with people directly or by telephone.
18. Occasionally lifts items weighing up to 25 pounds.