Pharmacy Techs
Loren Bonner
How do I find good pharmacy technicians? How do I hold onto them?” These are the questions on a lot of pharmacists’ minds today. Technician turnover is at an all-time high and pharmacies are struggling to fill pharmacy technician positions. The majority of pharmacy administrators reported turnover rates of at least 21% in 2021, and nearly 1 in 10 noted they had lost 41% or more of their pharmacy technicians, according to a survey by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
One of the key themes during a presentation at APhA2024 on pharmacy technician recruitment, retention, and career planning was how retention is just as important as recruitment. Presenters shared personal tips from their practice settings on ways they have been successful in both finding pharmacy technicians and holding onto them.
Kelly Kent, PharmD, from Towncrest Pharmacy in Iowa City, IA, said they recently hired a technician from a different practice site who was seeking more regular working hours.
“We were able to offer her that stability,” said Kent. “She started at a lower rate than what she was previously making; however, I said ‘let’s become immunization certified within your first 6 months and we’ll bump you up.’ ” Kent said the technician was enthusiastic about that idea, became credentialed in a 3-month period, and was recognized with a pay bump.
“In less than 12 months, she’s now making more than she was,” said Kent. “She has better hours, and she’s learned some great skills and has become a tremendous attribute to our sites.”
Over the past several years as they have hired technicians, leadership at Towncrest Pharmacy has quickly realized that pharmacy technicians want this career trajectory.
Retention
Trisha Winroth, PharmD, said their pharmacy technicians at Walgreens range in age from teenagers to older adults, each coming to the position with a different set of goals for their life stage. For a 19-year-old employee, Winroth recognizes that the job is a stepping stone.
“My middle techs have career goals within the company and within pharmacy, and then other techs want to stay where they are,” said Winroth, who is a pharmacy manager at a Walgreens location in Groton, MA.
Beyond recognizing their career goals, she said she knows the job duties each one of her technicians enjoys—whether that’s calling patients, immunizing, or checking off a list of tasks.
“We also celebrate everything,” said Winroth.
Kent said a pharmacy’s culture—for example, that Winroth and her staff celebrate everything—is a competitive advantage.
Towncrest has conducted culture surveys among staff and found that they have a strong culture of relationships, whether that’s among coworkers or with patients.
“It’s hard to put a price tag on [culture]—it’s very valuable,” said Kent.
They have also performed “stay interviews” with pharmacy staff to keep employees engaged.
Winroth’s view on evaluations has changed. It used to feel time-consuming to her, but now she sees it as an opportunity to make one-on-one time with an employee. “If you make feedback a part of everyday culture at your practice site, performance reviews aren’t that hard at that point,” she said. During an evaluation, Winroth often asks what the employee would like to change in the pharmacy. “We’ve tried new things, and some have worked and others not, but the person who made the suggestion feels valued and heard, and feels like they are leading change in the team as well,” said Winroth.
Recruitment
Kent said they have tried different approaches for recruitment, and they have had success with sign-on bonuses and an employee referral process.
“We are really trying to leverage our current staff and some of the relationships we have. Some of the best hires that have come to us have come from our direct care staff,” said Kent. “We provide services for a number of care facilities. You know those individuals have great patient care skills. They work well with others. They are used to multitasking. But many are suffering from burnout because they are always on call.”
Kent continued, “We’ve been able to offer them a little flexibility in that type of situation.”
Winroth said they have even recruited patients. Other avenues they’ve pursued include working with a local community college pharmacy technician program as well as hiring interns from a local high school vocational medical track program.
“Keeping in mind that a lot of our applicants don’t have college degrees and haven’t been coached for interviewing or have had little work experience, I like to ask discussion questions during the interview,” said Winroth.
She’s also up-front about what the job expectations are and what the team is like.
“I work in a 24-hour location, so we do have schedule flexibility that is a lot different from a pharmacy open traditional business hours,” said Winroth. “I have a tech now who works from 4:00 pm to midnight, and that works perfectly for her because it’s when her partner gets home from work. He takes the kids, and she comes to work and she still gets a reasonable amount of sleep.”
Kent said they have also strived to make their job descriptions more engaging. Another thing they have done over the past year is pay for state association memberships.
“Recently we paid for one tech who became community health care worker–certified to go to our state association meeting and meet with other techs who became community health care worker–certified,” said Kent. “We are trying to engage them in the whole profession and that has been really helpful, too.” ■
Cincinnati Children’s develops residency program for pharmacy technicians
Within hospital systems, most institutions don’t have a formal succession plan or career ladder trajectory for pharmacy technicians. But some pharmacy leaders are trying to change that.
At Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, selected pharmacy technicians can enter a 6-month pharmacy technician residency program to build skills and lead other technicians. The program, which began in the fall of 2020, is modeled from the Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership residency. So far, five pharmacy technicians have completed the program with a 100% retention rate as high-functioning technicians.
Ryan Craynon, PharmD, director of pharmacy operations at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, who presented results of the program at ASHP Midyear 2022, noted that residents in the program have reported improvement in management skills, functional knowledge and skills, and presentation skills and business writing.
With recent technician turnover rates greater than 20%, the model also serves to improve technician recruitment and retention.
Craynon said their vision is to continuously run this program with two to three participants per year for increased frontline leadership in key areas. They also have plans to establish it as a standard technician leadership development program that can be replicated at other health systems. ■