Clinically oriented pharmacy technicians to augment clinical services.

The justification for and the training, responsibilities, and contributions of two clinically oriented pharmacy technicians are described. A proposal outlining the clinical services being provided by pharmacists at a 650-bed medical center and the need for technical assistance was developed and approved. Two clinical technician positions were created to replace one of two eliminated pharmacist positions. Each of the technicians hired had worked successfully in several traditional pharmacy technician roles. The technicians were trained for specific roles and cross-trained in the basic functions of each other's roles. The technicians made rounds with the pharmacists to learn how to evaluate patients and interact with physicians and nurses and were required to demonstrate competence in deciding which patients required further evaluation. One technician focuses on providing direct clinical service support, and the other works primarily as a clinical administrative assistant. Half the technicians' time is spent performing services previously performed by pharmacists. In addition, the technicians track outcomes and provide clerical and data-management assistance. The technicians are responsible for screening and tracking approximately 400 patients per month on well-established services and 400 per month on two new monitoring services. The technicians have helped develop a medication-error tracking program. Clinically oriented technicians freed up pharmacists' time by collecting routine clinical data and managing clinical projects; through protocol-based screening and outcomes tracking, the technicians have helped to implement new clinical services and evaluate existing ones.