Question

question 20

a pharmacy technician should identify that which of the following is a primary responsibility of the pharmacist that a technician may not perform independently?

• processing insurance claims
• performing final verification and counseling patients about their prescriptions
• preparing and counting medications for filling
• entering prescription data into the pharmacy system

Explanation:

Analyze the question prompt

The question asks to identify a primary responsibility of the pharmacist that a pharmacy technician may NOT perform independently. This relates directly to the Scope of Practice and Pharmacy Technician Duties within a pharmacy setting.

Evaluate the options

• Processing insurance claims: This is a standard administrative task that pharmacy technicians routinely perform independently.
• Performing final verification and counseling patients about their prescriptions: Under federal and state laws (such as OBRA-90), clinical tasks like final drug verification and patient counseling require professional clinical judgment. Therefore, Patient Counseling Requirements dictate that only a licensed pharmacist can perform these duties; a technician cannot perform them independently.
• Preparing and counting medications for filling: This is a core technical duty that pharmacy technicians perform under the supervision of a pharmacist.
• Entering prescription data into the pharmacy system: This is a routine data-entry task that technicians perform regularly.

Determine the correct choice

The only option containing duties restricted solely to the pharmacist's professional scope is performing final verification and counseling patients.

Answer:

• Processing insurance claims
• Performing final verification and counseling patients about their prescriptions (Correct answer)
• Preparing and counting medications for filling
• Entering prescription data into the pharmacy system