Economic benefits of pharmacy technicians practicing at advanced scope: A systematic review

To critically appraise the literature to determine the cost and time savings for institutions when pharmacy technicians practice in advanced scope roles.

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.

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.

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.