New online training tool provides comprehensive content and learner analytics to confidently prepare current and future technicians
LEAWOOD, Kan. (April 9, 2019) – The National Healthcareer Association (NHA) is pleased to announce the launch of PharmaSeer™, its newest solution designed to help pharmacy technicians. This digital learning resource can be incorporated into pharmacy technician education or on-the-job training programs to build foundational knowledge and skills, while also assessing users’ areas of strength and areas of needed focus. With constant performance feedback and recommended skill proficiency activities throughout the tool, PharmaSeer™ builds technicians’ confidence and provides pharmacy trainers and employers with clear visibility to their technicians’ comprehension of critical concepts that they’ll need to apply on the job. PharmaSeer™ can help pharmacies determine how to best utilize team members to improve pharmacy efficiency and reduce critical errors.
Changes in healthcare are directing more clinical care duties to pharmacies, creating challenges for pharmacists with a heavy technical workload. As a result, pharmacies are becoming increasingly reliant on technicians. Despite the growing presence of technicians in the pharmacy (the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a 12% increase expected by 2026), many pharmacists are reluctant to delegate to technicians’ because their skill sets and formalized training vary widely. Training designed to increase the technician’s knowledge base and to assess competency can bridge the gap in trust, helping pharmacists feel more secure in sharing responsibilities, potentially resulting in improved pharmacy duties efficiency, increased patient satisfaction and/or reduced risk of medication errors. Yet training technicians is an ongoing challenge.
“NHA was a silent observer in the pharmacy market for quite a while,” says Lyndsey McDonald, Director of Pharmacy Partnerships at NHA. “We listened to our customers, pharmacy technicians and state pharmacy boards, then started developing solutions to meet the needs of the changing market. Employers needed a tool to help them create a consistent training and onboarding process that puts their workforce on a path to success. We developed PharmaSeer™ to do just that.”
PharmaSeer™ lessons are modular, allowing employers and educators to seamlessly integrate with their existing training and education programs. The 20 modules and 140+ lessons feature extensive didactic content that exceeds all standards for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) accreditation. It also offers interactive features such as videos, drills and quizzes, to keep the user engaged.
PharmaSeer™ provides analytics via dashboards for continuous feedback on the progress and abilities of each learner while identifying what tasks trainees are ready to take on.
“There is a lot of opportunity out there for pharmacy technicians,” says Jeremy Sasser, Pharmacy Content Strategist at NHA. “Certification is an important piece of the pharmacy technician’s professional development, and to achieve certification, pharmacy technicians need foundational proficiency in knowledge and skills that will put them on their path to success. Their opportunities expand with continued training and education. NHA is there every step of the way.”
PharmaSeer™ is the first step in NHA’s solution suite for pharmacy technicians who are just beginning their career journeys. In addition to PharmaSeer™, NHA provides the ExCPT (CPhT) certification exam, which is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and recognized by Boards of Pharmacy throughout the United States. NHA also offers a suite of ExCPT preparation materials and continues to develop additional solutions for technician career advancement beyond certification.
