Pharmacy Leaders Are Urged to Agree on Technician Standards

Concerned that interest in developing new national standards for pharmacy technicians may be on the wane, officials at the Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy (CCP) have called on leaders of the pharmacy industry to renew their efforts to reach a consensus on this issue. Along with the American Council for Pharmacy Education, CCP has been encouraging discussions about an accreditation process for pharmacy technician education and training programs for the past few years. To date, however, the result has been heavy on talk but light on action.

Part of the problem involves disagreements between community pharmacy groups, hospital pharmacy leaders, and pharmacy educators on key issues affecting pharmacy technician standards. There was a "lack of consensus on the best ways to train and utilize such supportive personnel in pharmacy currently and in the future," council officials explained.

In hopes of rekindling the debate, the council has called on the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners to focus on pharmacy technician standards as part of that group's "current strategic planning process."

"CCP believes that additional dialogue is needed to explore whether the present systems of education and training could be improved," council officials said. "It is important that this topic not be dropped, but rather escalated to the highest levels of the profession."