r/PharmacyTechnician

Had a first today, a patient was wanting a rush on their prescriptions pretty normal. They were visibly ill, they then proceeded to lift a barf and continuously puke while checking if we received everything and how long it would take to fill. 🤠

Yesterday while working one of our usual pt’s son came to pick up her Dexcom sensor (at the beginning of my shift), she always gets 2 sensor for 39.99 with insurance but this time it was coming out to 74.99 with the same insurance, I told her son the price and he had even texted her to double check. Well she came 15 minutes before closing through the drive-thru with her usual stank attitude asking why WE “MADE HER PAY SO MUCH” and what I do in this situation is just double check that we used the same insurance and then just ask the pt if their insurance has changed, since everything was the same if just told her that “unfortunately that’s the price that they’re giving us now”. Oh lord, why did I tell her that😂 she started going off saying that that’s incorrect, that her insurance would never charge her that much without informing her first, and that we changed the price. Honestly I wasn’t going to keep listening to her because I had other people in the front that I had to help and I knew she was just going to keep rambling so I asked the floater to re-explain everything to her because she’s the type of pt that doesn’t take a no unless it’s from a pharmacist as if they’d say anything different from what us techs told her. And as always she asked for my name because she was more than likely going to complain this morning. I seriously don’t understand ppl like her because why in the world would I, as a 20 year old, want to change the price of your medication, like what would I gain from that??🙄

Hi, I've (29F) been trying to get into my work places LearnRx program (I work at Kroger) for 3 years now. I have no prior Pharmacy Experience, but I very very much would like to pursue this Career Path. I have made it clear to my HR I am interested in this and all I get is "you'll be the first to know when there's a spot open". Then someone from my department who had just started a month ago just got moved to the Pharmacy bc their parent works over there. I have been applying to other places like CVS or Walgreens with no luck either. I cannot afford to go to school or take classes for this and it's just very disheartening. I do not know what to do. Any advice?

I’ve been at a retail pharmacy for 6 months (I’ve been in health care for years but never pharmacy) and I swear it had to be a hazing ritual to keep the new people on front end until they almost quit. My pharmacy tried to implement a 2 hours rotation but that lasted 3 days. Is this normal?

How do some of these systems let prescribers e-scribe with completely wrong directions ? Do you know how many times since the first of the year that I have had to PR a script for GLP-1's alone because the prescriber writes for it to be injected DAILY? Sure, you want the patient to go through a months supply in 4 days ? Or a 3 months supply in less than 2 weeks ?

Cue the "Can't you just fill what my doctor wrote ?" Absolutely not!

I miss when there was a shortage and only people with uncontrolled diabetes could get them. Now the most entitled people believe their insurance should cover it for weight loss and flip out when they don't.

Then it's the copay cards and the Medicare patients who can't use them at retail.

Don't get me started on the people who have a plan benefits exclusion and think their OSA is enough and that they're better than the weight loss people. No, you have OSA because you're overweight and it's causing sleep issues. You're not better than anyone else.

Oh, and actually, your insurance MAY cover it if you're in their weight management program or it has to be prescribed by THIS doctor, so the insurance company can keep a close eye on your weight!

I'm over it, and it's only going to get worse the more drugs come out. I'm dreading the beginning of next year when PAs expire because it's not just the patients, it's the insurance companies.

On 5/16, this old lady came in looking for a script. I remembered she came in earlier in the week and she had 6 scripts ready for pickup. She didn't want to pick up any of them up. She said she's looking for a 7th. There's a note on the one that shes looking for and it already says its RTS until 5/17, but I run it through insurance again anyway. I tell her it very clearly says RTS until 5/17. She's very agitated and said someone told her to come back 5/16.

Imma be honest, I think I was the one who spoke to her earlier in the week, but I dont remember telling her to come back on 5/16. I remember she came in with her husband and there was an issue with his scripts as well. I dont remember any details. I don't know for sure if anyone told her to come back 5/16, but we don't just pick an arbitrary day to waste your time. Anyway, I'm trying to be super polite still, I tell her "I understand it's frustrating..." and she goes "No, you DONT understand".

First of all, who are YOU to tell me what I do and do not understand? 💀 Since when do YOU get to dictate my OWN experiences. Obviously, I didn't say all that. I told her that her insurance isn't going to cover it, and unless she wanted to pay cash price, there's nothing I could do at the moment. Then she goes, "I don't blame my doctor, I don't blame my insurance, I blame Walgreens!". And I'm just standing there staring at her like ok...? I'm usually really polite and try to explain thoroughly when applicable. This is the first time I've geuinely given someone the gen Z stare. Like lady, I dont give a DAMN whose fault you THINK it is 😭. I'm TELLING you, your INSURANCE isnt going to cover it. Also according to our records, she still has like a 2 week supply left 😭. It's not like shes out of meds nor did she claim as such. I recommended she use the app, I recommmend she call insurance, ofc she didnt wanna do any of that.

And ofc she didnt pick up her 6 other scripts bc she wants to pick them all up at the same time. Which I get, but also its taking up a lot of space 🫩 And then shes like "I don't want to receive any phone calls threatening to put my scripts away. I'm busy tomorrow." Is checking the app, and making a phone call really that hard? 🫩

Has anyone worked at Walmart Pharmacy if so what was it like and did you like it ? I feel like ive never seen anyone post about working at Walmarts Pharmacy and it's making me feel a little sus. I was wondering because there is a job opening at Walmart Pharmacy near me and was wanting to apply but i wanted to get some of advice. Thank you !

At my pharmacy literally 75% of our patients need help in Spanish. And every tech has learned some Spanish, at least dates and numbers up to 100.

I came in knowing Spanish at conversational level but being in an environment where I can practice so much has really helped to elevate my Spanish level.

I've noticed though the population of middle easterners has increased a lot, especially Afghans, so lots of Dari and Pashto. I've been thinking about trying to pick up these languages as well. Anyone have experience learning these languages?

Obviously we can't run our own pharmacy. We would have to partner with a pharmacist and with the average wage few of us would have the funds to start one solo.

I've asked chatgpt about this.

Recommendations include:

1. Insurance troubleshooting, which would include prior authorization help

2. Workflow help

3. Technician training

4. Medication adherence/organization/delivery

It says independent pharmacies have a harder time training their technicians and pharmacist may not be so good at operations

About workflow help that would be creating the sop documentation. Or even simulation software because I have some knowledge of computer programming.

There are already a lot of pharmacy tech schools that train for the certification test but there aren't any that I'm aware of that strictly focus on training for the day to day tasks of a tech, things such as insurance resolution.

Has anyone tried to start a business around these things? Any suggestions for other businesses?

I just passed my exam on friday and got the preliminary results. Its not showing up in the portal. Should I go ahead and apply for positions or wait until it shows up in the account portal? As soon as it appears i'll put in for the state license asap. Also my class training offers some externship even though its not mandatory and won't start for some time. Should i focus more on just going ahead and applying for positions? Thank you.

curious what the general population does

I’m currently studying for the PTCB exam and I’ve noticed something about my learning.

I can usually recognize drug names and their answers when I see multiple-choice options (brand vs generic, drug classes, etc.), but I struggle to spell or say the exact drug names correctly from scratch.

For example, I might recognize “lisinopril” or “amlodipine” when I see it, but when I try to write or say it it myself I sometimes end up with small spelling / sounding errors like “linisopril” instead of “lisinopril,” even though I know what it is when I see it.

Is this normal for PTCB prep? And does the actual exam focus more on recognition rather than perfect spelling? I’m worried how this would translate over when actually working and pronouncing these prescriptions on the job.

Any advice from people who have taken it would be appreciated.

Haihai!

I recently just finished my PT course at my local community College & plan to take the cpht within the next 2/3wks.

My main goal to internally transfer to pharmacy at the hospital i'm currently employed with. Get my year worth of experience there. Then look around for travel tech jobs.

What are the pros & cons of being a travel tech? (I don't have nor want children ever. So the idea of "leaving" somebody behind isn't really a big issue for me.)

The new ptcb exam is easy if you’re properly prepared. FOLLOW THE TEST OUTLINE. TAKE THE PREPTCB. I took it twice. Watch amanda pharm videos for the top 200 drugs. (Fun fact I only studied the top 25 and just knew the suffix meanings) take the free online quizzes. and for the other information Capsulecramrx studyguide worked wonders for me. They’re straight to the point, where I don’t have to read irrelevant information. it’s a high yield test cram session. her tiktok videos are actually helpful as well

i recently stubbled upon a tech class starting in two weeks and im supposed to fo speak with them tomorrow. i was wondering if they would test when i start class or at clinicals ? should i just ask ? i did quit when i found out (week ago) but im not sure if thats long enough

Hello everyone! I’m completely new to the pharmacy tech field, a trainee right now. My main thing I’m having trouble understanding is resolving insurance issues when the customer isn’t present. I work for CVS, they had me do drop off training for a day although I’m lost when it comes to QT. I got a few where like it says I can’t bill the insurance.

1. The insurance/third party doesn’t want to pay for the prescription because it’s over a 30 day supply?

2. Requesting a PR?

3. Any other things I may run into, and tips to help me out in the long run? :)

hello! :)

for some background i am currently a WFH pharmacy technician working in medication adherence, fully remote and full time. i have experience in retail pharmacy as well as hospital pharmacy and now remote work/medication adherence. i plan on taking the PTCE near the end of this year to be nationally certified but as of right now i am only licensed in the state i reside in.

the pay in my current position is good, i'd say not great but a bit above average for my state. there are options for me to work my way up with the company i'm with currently but the problem is... i dream of being a HYBRID worker. fully remote work is not the end goal for me as i suffer from depression and it does aggravate my mental symptoms. i'm willing to transition into any other type of tech position. i feel like after getting my national certification i could easily market myself as a hybrid worker by having lots of experience in retail/hospital and i can also prove that i'm competent enough to work independently from home by the experience i've gained at my current job.

just by doing some research on my own, some possible types of tech positions that could be hybrid are medication access specialist, ambulatory pharmacy technician, pharmacy operations coordinator, and 340B pharmacy technician/analyst. i haven't done much research into what these specific positions entail yet.

but i just wanted to ask and see if any of you work hybrid as a technician? hybrid as in maybe 3 days in office, 2 days remote or something of that nature. also if you have any related tips for my goal here it would be much appreciated. thank you in advance! :)

EDITED to add that i also have IV experience and could pivot to something with CSPT and practice on site somewhere to take that exam if needed or advised. also have experience administering immunizations. with saying that i do lean more toward wanting an operations type position in an office for example if that makes sense. thanks

Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice from anyone familiar with pharmacy technician licensing/certification.
I used to be a licensed and certified pharmacy technician several years ago, but unfortunately I let my license expire and didn’t renew it for about 4–5 years. I recently looked into getting back into the field, but now I’m being told I can’t simply renew it and may have to redo my externship/training hours under a pharmacist all over again.
Has anyone else gone through this situation before? Is there any way around restarting the externship process, or any alternative pathways to become licensed again? I still have prior experience as a pharmacy tech, so I’m feeling discouraged about starting completely over.
I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from pharmacists, pharmacy techs, or anyone who has reinstated an expired license after several years.
Thank you!