Implementation of a pharmacy technician-driven, technology-assisted final product verification program at a community teaching hospital.

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Purpose: Technology-assisted final product verification (TAFPV) is a process whereby a licensed pharmacy technician validates the work of another using a technology such as barcode scanning. While similar to tech-check-tech (TCT), TAFPV requires that technology is utilized in the final verification process. As of 2024, 28 states allowed this practice. In October 2021, the Michigan Board of Pharmacy passed allowances for TAFPV to be conducted in the state. This report describes the implementation of a TAFPV program and its impact on pharmacy operations.

Summary: Following technology and site readiness assessments, a TAFPV program was implemented at a community teaching hospital. Three months post implementation, 4,193 filled medication orders were verified by validated pharmacy technicians (VPTs) with 100% accuracy. Fifty-seven dispensing errors were identified by VPTs upon verification. The median time from medication procurement to final verification for VPTs was 138 seconds (interquartile range [IQR], 53-465) compared to 218 (IQR, 39-736) for pharmacists (P = 0.01). The mean (SD) amount of time spent verifying medication orders daily was 4.57 (0.12) hours for VPTs and 4.53 (0.14) hours for pharmacists (P = 0.97).

Conclusion: Implementation of a TAFPV program improved inpatient pharmacy operational efficiencies while preserving medication safety. A future area of study includes measuring the impact of clinical services provided by pharmacists utilizing the reallocated time from the TAFPV program.