Pharmacy Technician - Medication Support Specialist in Cardiology

St. Charles Health System; Bend (OR); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading health system is seeking a Pharmacy Technician Medication Support Specialist to process medication refills and authorizations. This role involves collaborating with healthcare providers while ensuring compliance with policies and maintaining high standards of patient care. Ideal candidates will have a Pharmacy Technician license and strong interpersonal skills.

Qualifications

• High School diploma or GED required.
• Pharmacy Technician license through the Oregon Board of Pharmacy required.
• Two years related experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Process medication refills and authorizations under supervision.
• Support health care providers with pharmacy-related requests.
• Maintain knowledge of insurance criteria for medication approval.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Computer literacy

Time management

Bilingual (English/Spanish)

Education

High School diploma or GED

Tools

EPIC

MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook)

Job description

Pay range: $25.67 - $32.08

ST. CHARLES HEALTH SYSTEM

JOB DESCRIPTION

TITLE: Pharmacy Technician Medication Support Specialist

REPORTS TO POSITION: Ambulatory Care Pharmacist Manager

DEPARTMENT: Pharmacy

DATE LAST REVIEWED: August 2024

OUR VISION: Creating America’s healthiest community, together

OUR MISSION: In the spirit of love and compassion, better health, better care, better value

OUR VALUES: Accountability, Caring and Teamwork

DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: The St. Charles Health System Pharmacy provides a broad range of inpatient and outpatient pharmaceutical care services to ensure safe and effective medication use.

POSITION OVERVIEW: The Pharmacy Technician Medication Support Specialist is responsible for gathering information from medical records and other sources as required to process medication refills and medication prior authorizations in accordance with St. Charles Health System protocols and policies. The Medication Support Specialist - Pharmacy Technician works as part of a technician-based team to achieve these goals. This technician will also support ambulatory care pharmacy operations. All operations will be under direct supervision of the Ambulatory Care Pharmacist Manager. This position does not directly manage any other caregivers.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES:

Supports clinics and health care providers with pharmacy related request such as refills, prior authorizations, benefits investigation, and copay assistance.

Maintains knowledge of insurance company criteria for medication approval.

Utilizing standard protocol as approved by St. Charles Health System, creates and routes electronic health record (EHR) encounters from information received from pharmacy faxes, pharmacy electronic refill requests, patient phone calls, and EHR patient portal messages, to send in medications to pharmacy or when appropriate to providers or ambulatory care pharmacists.

Demonstrates the skills of effective communication, decision-making, and organization to ensure efficient job performance and job success.

Maintains familiarity with all relevant insurance plans and formularies.

Demonstrates sound judgment as to when to involve pharmacists, physicians, or other health care professionals in the refill process.

Receives medications from pharmaceutical manufacturers on behalf of specific patients.

Evaluates patient eligibility for pharmaceutical medication assistance.

Evaluates pharmaceutical manufacturer criteria for patient eligibility.

Utilizes internet programs, vouchers, copay-coinsurance assistance programs, and any other program knowledge.

Completes manufacturer application forms or assists patient/caregiver with the forms.

Evaluates patient financial information currently available in UVA software systems, demonstrates proficient access and ability to look up pertinent information in data-containing applications, and applies available in

formation to the specific manufacturer program to reduce paperwork burden to the patient.

Provides unbiased information and assistance to patients.

Seeks additional help for patients with no gap coverage, medications not covered by the enrolled plan from other assistance organizations on behalf of the patient/caregiver.

Maintains current working knowledge of alternate assistance organizations.

Continually seeks and finds new ideas and solutions for increasing medication savings for the organization and patients.

Pursues individual training/learning opportunities to benefit the program.

Responsible for proper communication and documentation of each medication refill within EHR utilizing appropriate templates within EPIC.

Aids the providers and/or ambulatory care pharmacists in completing appropriate patient assistance paperwork, gathering correct patient documents and submitting application on patient’s behalf to improve medication compliance.

Assists prior authorization department by receiving pharmacy PA requests and assessing if alternative medications with similar/appropriate efficacy are available to circumvent PA process.

Requests information from insurance companies and pharmacies on behalf of prescribers regarding possible alternative therapies and providing patients with timely status communications.

Supports the vision, mission and values of the organization in all respects.

Supports Lean principles of continuous improvement with energy and enthusiasm, functioning as a champion of change.

Provides and maintains a safe environment for caregivers, patients and guests.

Conducts all activities with the highest standards of professionalism and confidentiality. Complies with all applicable laws, regulations, policies and procedures, supporting the organization’s corporate integrity efforts by acting in an ethical and appropriate manner, reporting known or suspected violation of applicable rules, and cooperating fully with all organizational investigations and proceedings.

Delivers customer service and/or patient care in a manner that promotes goodwill, is timely, efficient and accurate.

May perform additional duties of similar complexity within the organization, as required or assigned.

EDUCATION:

Required: High School diploma or GED.

Preferred: N/A

LICENSURE/CERTIFICATION/REGISTRATION:

Required: Pharmacy Technician license through the Oregon Board of Pharmacy.

Preferred: Certified Pharmacy Technician license (CPhT) through the Oregon Board of Pharmacy. National certification through the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) or National Healthcareer Association (NHA).

EXPERIENCE:

Required: N/A

Preferred: Two (2) years related experience in billing, insurance benefits, and prescription refill coordination. Experience working in a Joint Commission Accredited health care facility, and/or an ambulatory care facility designated as a Patient-Centered Medical Home highly. Experience using EPIC, an electronic health record.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT:

Must be able to wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required to perform the job safely.

ADDITIONAL POSITION INFORMATION:

SKILLS:

Excellent interpersonal skills; ability to work effectively with culturally and linguistically diverse populations, including maintaining good relationship between pharmacy and clinical staff.

Ability to work in a dynamic, fast paced, team environment.

Ability to use good judgement in responding to questions from nurses, providers, and other clinical personnel.

Ability to self-motivate and work with minimal supervision yet be able to recognize when it is appropriate to seek assistance.

Ability to deliver and model excellent customer service.

Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions and requests from patients, co-workers, and others as necessary. Bilingual in English and Spanish, both written and verbal highly preferred.
Ability to add, subtract, multiply, divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals.

Ability to recognize problems, collect data and establish facts.
High level of computer literacy and proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel and Outlook), electronic health records (EPIC) and web applications.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Continually (75% or more): Standing, walking, lifting/carrying/pushing or pulling 1-10 pounds, grasping/squeezing.

Frequently (50%): Sitting, bending, stooping/kneeling/crouching, climbing stairs, lifting/carrying/pushing or pulling 11-25 pounds.

Occasionally (25%): Climbing ladder/step-stool, reaching overhead, lifting/carrying/pushing or pulling 25-50 pounds, keyboard operation for receiving caregivers, operation of a motor vehicle, use of clear and audible speaking voice and the ability to hear normal speech level.

Rarely (10%): Keyboard operation.

Never (0%):Whispered speech level.

Exposure to Elemental Factors

Occasionally (25%): Heat, cold, wet/slippery area, noise, dust, vibration, chemical solution, uneven surface.

Blood-Borne Pathogen (BBP) Exposure Category

Risk for Exposure to BBP

Schedule Weekly Hours:

40

Caregiver Type:

Regular

Shift:

First Shift (United States of America)

Is Exempt Position?

No

Job Family:

SPECIALIST PHARMACY

Scheduled Days of the Week:

Monday-Friday

Shift Start & End Time: