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-- WITH PHOTO -- TO HEALTH, MEDICAL, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
Pharmacy Technician Certification Board Adds New Patient Safety
Continuing Education Requirement For Recertification
WASHINGTON, April 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pharmacy
Technician Certification Board (PTCB) has announced that Certified
Pharmacy Technicians (CPhTs) eligible to recertify are now required to
complete one hour of continuing education (CE) in patient safety, in
addition to the already required hour of law CE, as part of 20 hours
of CE needed for recertification. The new requirement is one of the
planned Certification Program changes PTCB announced early last year
to advance CPhT qualifications.
PTCB has adopted the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education
(ACPE) definition of patient safety described in the ACPE Policy and
Procedures Manual. While PTCB-acceptable patient safety CE courses
must be based on ACPE's patient safety (topic 05) definition, PTCB
will not require CE credits to be earned only from ACPE-accredited
providers. All CPhTs applying to renew certification must fulfill the
new patient safety CE requirement.
"Certified pharmacy technicians are essential members of the pharmacy
practice team," said Everett B. McAllister, MPA, RPh, PTCB Executive
Director and CEO. "By continually learning more about how to prevent
harm, CPhTs can have a positive impact on advancing the patient safety
culture within pharmacies and the entire continuum of care."
Eighty-nine percent of respondents to a profession-wide online survey
conducted by PTCB in March 2012 supported adding a medication safety
(equivalent to patient safety) CE requirement for recertification.
"Pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists with duties that greatly
affect patient care and safety, so it is important for CPhTs to be
educated on how their daily responsibilities shape the medication
distribution system," said Scott Meyers, MS, RPh, Chair of the PTCB
Board of Governors. "Adding the required hour in patient safety will
help ensure CPhTs are prepared to safely assist with the practice of
pharmacy."
Other planned Certification Program changes include American Society
of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP)-accredited education requirements
for certification by 2020, and additional changes in acceptable CE
programs for recertification, including requiring all 20 CE hours to
be pharmacy technician-specific ('T'-designated) in 2015. Allowable CE
hours from college courses will be reduced from 15 to 10 by 2016, and
allowable in-service CE hours will be phased out by 2018.
PTCB's program changes elevate PTCB's certification standards and
thereby support and advance improved patient care and safety
throughout pharmacy practice. The changes are the result of a PTCB
initiative which began with a 2011 summit on future directions for
pharmacy technicians. Summit findings, combined with results from two
profession-wide surveys, called for decisive changes in certification
standards.
About PTCB The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB)
advocates a single national standard for pharmacy technician
certification that is recognized and supported by the profession. The
goal of PTCB's national Certification Program, which services the more
than 280,000 currently active certified pharmacy technicians (CPhTs)
nationwide, is to enable pharmacy technicians to work more effectively
with pharmacists to offer safe and effective patient care and service.
PTCB was established in 1995 and is governed by five pharmacy
organizations-the American Pharmacists Association, the American
Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the Illinois Council of
Health-System Pharmacists, the Michigan Pharmacists Association, and
the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Pharmacy technicians
may apply for certification online at www.ptcb.org .
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120301/DC62761LOGO
SOURCE Pharmacy Technician Certification Board
-0- 04/21/2014
/CONTACT: Laura Humphrey, Manager of Communications, (202) 888-1707, lhumphrey@ptcb.org
/Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120301/DC62761LOGO
/Web Site: http://www.ptcb.org
CO: Pharmacy Technician Certification Board
ST: District of Columbia
IN: HEA MTC EDU
PRN
-- DC09130 --
0000 04/21/2014 19:02:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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