Pharmacy Tech II

Starting Hourly Rate of Pay: $24.8944/hr + DOE
Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8:30am – 5:30pm. Tuesday & Thursday 9:30am – 6:30pm

At Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, we welcome diversity; we encourage, uplift, and are honored to serve people who have been historically underrepresented and underserved. Our mission is to provide high-quality, culturally appropriate healthcare to low-income residents of Washington and Yamhill Counties, with a special emphasis on seasonal and migrant farm workers and others with barriers to receiving healthcare. We strive to provide an inclusive environment that welcomes and values the diversity of the people we employ and serve.

If you are unsure whether you meet all of the required qualifications for this role but are interested and passionate about this potential position, we encourage you to apply.

Job Summary:  The Pharmacy Technician II assists all Pharmacists with providing patient centered care and great customer service to enhance therapeutic outcomes through drug therapy optimization and medication education. This position answers phones, receives prescriptions, collects patient information, stocks medications, types and fills new and refill prescriptions, fills prescription labels, handles prescription insurance issues, and assists with cleaning the pharmacy. When working with a Pharmacist, the Pharmacy Technician II assists in collecting data and organizing and maintaining database/registry.  This position may also communicate test results and follow up information and medication information to patients under the supervision of a Pharmacist.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Read prescriptions, verify orders are complete and ready to fill and use software to type new prescriptions and create labels.
• Communicate politely and discreetly; clarify questions and refer any medication related questions to the pharmacist, assist pharmacist with particular patient communication needs, for example, patient’s literacy level, comfort with issue, etc.
• Translate medication information between patients and pharmacist as needed.
• Assist Pharmacists in translating sensitive and confidential medical information via telephone.
• Cover other pharmacy technician positions at other sites on a temporary basis as needed.
• Maintain security of the work area; pharmacy locked when pharmacist not present.
• Maintain the highest possible degree of accuracy with all written, spoken and typed information.

• Ensure medications are stored properly.
• Pull expired medications at least monthly.
• Maintain and keep inventory of drugs in pharmacy by ordering drugs as needed daily.

• Accurately document all transactions.
• Prepare medications for provider to administer or dispense.
• Indigent Medication Program (IMP):
• Maintain the IMP system, ensuring that forms are available
• Complete paperwork for obtaining medications through IMP as directed by pharmacist or provider
• Notify patients when IMP medications are received
• Be available by phone for IMP patient questions/concerns
• Keep IMP meds and expired IMP meds separated from regular pharmacy stock
• Follow through to ensure IMP applications are complete and are accompanied by all documents required by the manufacturer
• Document and track IMP patients and their medications on Rx Assist or other computer software
• Return to IMP stock or dispose/return IMP meds not picked up or discontinued.
• Contact patients when required.

• Foster close working relationships within the department.
• Refer patient questions to appropriate member of team as needed.
• Handle multiple and simultaneous deadlines.
• Accurately document all transactions.
• Assist with IMP applications for patients managed by the Clinical Pharmacy team.

Clinical Pharmacy Duties (if applicable):

• Understand the Scope of Practice and how it pertains to the position of pharmacy technician, registered nurse, medical assistant and pharmacist.
• Work with the pharmacist to develop, implement and carry out programs in chronic disease management using the chronic disease management model.
• Ensure patient tracking and registry data is recorded “real time” as data is acquired and that disease registry data entry is up to date.
• Use registry report to organize a plan of care for complex patients on assigned panel. Send letters as indicated from preventive tracking and disease management report.
• Participate in team decisions about data needs of the teams in order to proactively manage a panel.
• Locate test results, get follow up information or referral information, call patient to communicate test results and solicit questions, recommend appointments and share information requiring no medical decision-making.
• Collect pertinent data including current medications, glucose values, life style choices, etc. under the direction of the pharmacist.
• Contact pharmacies to gather patient refill records for medication reconciliation and review.
• Participate in auditing medical records to extract data for registry needs.
• Assist with completing reports and gathering information for Clinical Pharmacy projects.
• Assist with managing and auditing 340B compliance and contract pharmacy day-to-day operations as indicated.
• Other duties as assigned.

HIPAA Requirements:

The Pharmacy Technician II will have access to PHI in the course of carrying out his/her duties. The Pharmacy Technician II will use the PHI when gathering personal information to fill prescriptions, bill insurance or charge patients, maintain up to date pharmacy records, and apply for patient assistance program medications.  Applying the minimum necessary standard of HIPAA, the designated record sets to which this employee will have access include:  the practice management system demographic and scheduling functions, information in the pharmacy management system as determined by the pharmacy director, the patient profile, and patient assistance program records.  When the Pharmacy Technician II is translating as part of their job duties, they will follow HIPAA translation guidelines.

Certification:

• Must be a Nationally Certified Pharmacy Technician through ICPT or PTCB.

• Must hold an active Certified Oregon Pharmacy Technician License.  

• Proficiency in English and Spanish, both spoken and written language required, demonstrated by pre-employment competency testing.
• QS1 Software experience desired.

Education and Experience:

• High School Diploma or equivalent required.
• One or more years of recent experience as a pharmacy technician in a busy pharmacy environment working with patients and with professional and technical staff, including order entry, filling prescriptions, insurance, ordering/returns/stocking preferred.
• Experience assisting in training entry-level technicians desired.
• Other specialized experience, education or skills desired include:  experience in multiple practice settings, compounding experience, continuing education, special interest areas in pharmacy, inventory management.

Behavioral Competencies:

Accountability

• Role model VG’s mission, vision, and shared values

Customer-Focus

• Listen to the voice of the customer and strive to delight them by exceeding their expectations

Teamwork

• If someone needs help, help them

Initiative

• Be innovative, apply fresh ideas, and continuously improve how you do your work

Confidentiality

• Maintain strict confidentiality and respect the privacy of others

Ethical

• Demonstrate integrity, honesty, and stewardship in all encounters at work

Respect

• Demonstrate consideration and appreciation for co-workers and patients

Communication

• Demonstrate the ability to convey thoughts and ideas as well as understand perspective of others

Physical Requirements:

• Standing/Walking: up to 90%
• Sitting: up to 50%
• Lifting/Carrying: may occasionally lift up to 30 lbs.
• Ability to stoop, bend; will reach frequently up to 30%
• May occasionally use step stool.
• Must be able to open and close prescription and patient vials.
• Must be able to read for extended periods up to 50%
• Computer usage up to 90%

Working Environment/Physical Hazards:

• Work in well-lighted, ventilated environment.
• Potential exposure to drug vapors or particles (e.g., powdered antibiotics that are reconstituted).
• Possible indirect exposure to blood borne pathogens; expected to observe infection control.
• Possible exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals.

Equipment Used:

Office equipment

• Computer/printer: pharmacy software, databases, word processing and EPIC
• Telephone, fax, copier, scanner
• Cash register

Pharmacy/Medical equipment

• Automated tablet counting machine
• Electronic ordering device
• Glucometers and point of care lab monitoring
• Equipment necessary to measure vitals (blood pressure cuff, scale, etc)

Immunization:

Staff member must meet immunizations requirements as stated in VGMHC’s immunization policy.

Job description represent a general outline of the essential and major job duties, functions and qualifications required.  They cannot be all-inclusive and comprehensive due to the dynamic nature of work performed to accomplish VGMHC’s Mission.

VGMHC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  No person is unlawfully excluded from consideration for employment because of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, veteran status, marital status or physical challenges.  The policy applies not only to recruitment and hiring practices, but also includes affirmative action in the area of placement, promotion, transfer, rate of pay and termination.