Section R4-23-1104. Pharmacy Technicians and Pharmacy Technician Trainees

A.      Permissible activities of a pharmacy technician trainee. Acting in compliance with all applicable statutes and rules and under the supervision of a pharmacist, a pharmacy technician trainee may assist a graduate intern, pharmacy intern, or pharmacist with the following when applicable to the pharmacy practice site:

1.        Record on the original prescription order the prescription serial number and date dispensed;

2.        Initiate or accept verbal or electronic refill authorization from a medical practitioner or medical practitioner’s agent and record, on the original prescription order or by an alternative method approved by the Board or its desig- nee, the medical practitioner’s name, patient name, name and quantity of prescription medication, specific refill information, and name of medical practitioner’s agent, if any;

3.        Record information in the refill record or patient profile;

4.        Type and affix a label for a prescription medication or enter information for a new or refill prescription medica- tion into a computer, if a pharmacist verifies the accuracy and initials in handwriting or  by another  method approved by the Board or its designee the finished label prepared by the technician before the prescription medi- cation is dispensed to the patient;

5.        Reconstitute a prescription medication, if a pharmacist checks the ingredients and procedure before reconstitu- tion and verifies the final product after reconstitution;

6.        Retrieve, count, or pour a prescription medication, if a pharmacist verifies the contents of the prescription medi- cation against the original prescription medication con- tainer or by an alternative drug identification method approved by the Board or its designee;

7.        Prepackage drugs in accordance with R4-23-402(A); and

8.        Measure, count, pour, or otherwise prepare and package a drug needed for hospital inpatient dispensing, if a phar- macist verifies the accuracy, measuring, counting, pour- ing, preparing, packaging, and safety of the drug before the drug is delivered to a patient care area.

B.       Permissible activities  of a  pharmacy technician.  Acting in compliance with all applicable statutes and rules and under the supervision of a pharmacist, a pharmacy technician may:

1.        Perform the activities listed in subsection (A); and

2.        After completing a pharmacy technician drug compound- ing training program developed by the pharmacy permit- tee or pharmacist-in-charge under R4-23-1105(C), assist

a pharmacist, graduate intern, or pharmacy intern in com- pounding prescription medications and sterile or non- sterile pharmaceuticals in accordance with written poli- cies and procedures, if the preparation, accuracy, and safety of the final product is verified by a pharmacist before dispensing.

C.      When performing the activities listed in subsections (A) and

(B)  for which the pharmacy technician or pharmacy technician trainee has been trained, the pharmacy technician or pharmacy technician trainee shall perform those functions accurately.

D.      Prohibited activities. A pharmacy technician or pharmacy technician trainee shall not perform a function reserved for a pharmacist, graduate intern, or pharmacy intern in accordance with R4-23-402 or R4-23-653.

E.       A pharmacy technician or pharmacy technician trainee shall wear a badge indicating name and title while on duty.

F.       Before employing a pharmacy technician or pharmacy techni- cian trainee, a pharmacy permittee or pharmacist-in-charge shall develop, implement, review, and revise in the same man- ner described in R4-23-653(A) and comply with policies and procedures for pharmacy technician and pharmacy technician trainee activities as specified in subsection (G).

G.      The policies and procedures shall include the following:

1.        For all practice sites:

a.         Supervisory controls and verification procedures to ensure the quality and safety of pharmaceutical ser- vice;

b.        Employment performance expectations for a phar- macy technician and pharmacy technician trainee;

c.         The activities a pharmacy technician or pharmacy technician trainee may perform as specified in R4- 23-1104(A) and (B);

d.        Pharmacist and patient communication;

e.         Reporting, correcting, and avoiding medication and dispensing errors;

f.         Security procedures for:

i.         Confidentiality of patient prescription records, and

ii.        The pharmacy area;

g.        Automated medication distribution system;

h.        Compounding procedures for pharmacy technicians; and

i.         Brief overview of state and federal pharmacy stat- utes and rules;

2.        For community and limited-service pharmacy practice sites:

a.         Prescription dispensing procedures for:

i.         Accepting a new written prescription,

ii.        Accepting a refill request,

iii.      Selecting a drug product,

iv.       Counting and pouring,

v.        Labeling, and

vi.       Obtaining refill authorization;

b.        Computer data entry procedures for:

i.         New and refill prescriptions,

ii.        Patient’s drug allergies,

iii.      Drug-drug interactions,

iv.       Drug-food interactions,

v.        Drug-disease state contraindications,

vi.       Refill frequency,

vii.     Patient’s disease and medical condition,

viii.    Patient’s age or date of birth and gender, and

ix.       Patient profile maintenance; and

3.        For hospital pharmacy practice sites:

a.         Medication order procurement and data entry,

b.        Drug preparation and packaging,

c.         Outpatient and inpatient drug delivery, and

d.        Inspection of drug storage and preparation areas and patient care areas.

Historical Note

New Section made by final rulemaking at 10 A.A.R. 1192, effective May 1, 2004 (Supp. 04-1). Amended by

final rulemaking at 12 A.A.R. 3032, effective October 1,

2006 (Supp. 06-3). Amended by final rulemaking at 19

A.A.R. 102, effective March 10, 2013 (Supp. 13-1).