Medication safety pharmacy technician in a large, tertiary care, community hospital

At Novant Health, we have recognized the utility and increasingly important role of pharmacy technicians in the success of today’s health-system pharmacy. The 2010 Pharmacy Practice Model Summit set forth key objectives related to the advancement of pharmacy technicians, such as developing opportunities for technician specialization, supporting pharmacist clinical monitoring by assisting in gathering and maintaining specific patient data, obtaining certification by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board to support optimal pharmacy practice models, and contributing to aspects of quality-improvement programs regarding advanced technician functions.1 Like many of our peer health systems, our hospital leaders support pharmacy models that maximize the use of technicians and technology.2 In 2011, the Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center, a 900-bed, acute care, community facility, lost its pharmacist and facility leader for medication safety. The medication safety structure within Novant Health includes the medication-use system improvement committee (MUSIC), a facility-based working group formed for the purposes of evaluating and improving the quality and safety of the medication-use process to prevent patient harm. The MUSIC reports to our medication safety committee (MASCOT), our systemwide, multidisciplinary medication safety team. The MASCOT is a subcommittee of the pharmacy and therapeutics committee and serves as a platform to share information, establish best practices, and assess external risks related to medication safety. This full-time medication safety position at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center had split the time at work between investigational drug services and medication safety.