Economic benefits of pharmacy technicians practicing at advanced scope: A systematic review.
Res Social Adm Pharm
; 16(10): 1344-1353, 2020 Oct.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1454504
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To critically appraise the literature to determine the cost and time savings for institutions when pharmacy technicians practice in advanced scope roles.METHODS:
A systematic review was registered with Prospero and conducted in January 2019. Searches were conducted in Business Source Pro, CINAHL, EconLit, EMBASE, InformGlobal, Medline, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. Search terms included pharmacy technician/pharmacy assistant and cost or time or economic evaluation. After article selection in the web-based platform Covidence©, data was extracted, and a narrative review was performed.RESULTS:
A total of 16 publications were eligible for inclusion in the review. Pharmacy technicians practicing at advanced scope led to both cost savings and time savings. Six studies reported a cost saving, six reported a time saving and four reported both time and cost savings. Annual savings ranged from AUD $4526 - $88,719.89, linked primarily to the difference in wages between pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Studies that focused on time savings evaluated checking dispensed items, taking medication histories and entering chemotherapy orders; demonstrating savings of up to 5 min per task completed. CONCLUSION(S) Appropriately trained pharmacy technicians practicing at advanced scope have the potential to save time and reduce hospital costs. Identifying the cost saving opportunities from technicians acting in advance scope roles will provide incentives for hospitals to expand their technician workforce.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pharmacy Technicians
/
Pharmacy Service, Hospital
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Res Social Adm Pharm
Journal subject:
Pharmacy
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.sapharm.2020.01.007
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