Question

question 39
a pharmacy technician is entering a prescription into the computer system when a drug utilization review (dur) alert appears indicating a potential drug-drug interaction. which of the following actions should the technician take?

override the alert and continue processing the prescription.
cancel the prescription without notifying the pharmacist.
notify the pharmacist of the alert before proceeding.
contact the patient to ask if they have experienced any interactions before.

Explanation:

Identify the role and clinical boundaries

The scenario involves a pharmacy technician encountering a Drug Utilization Review (DUR) alert for a potential drug-drug interaction. Under the Scope of Practice and standard Pharmacy Technician Duties, clinical decision-making—such as evaluating, resolving, or overriding drug interaction alerts—falls strictly under the professional judgment of the licensed pharmacist.

Evaluate the options

• Override the alert and continue processing the prescription: This is incorrect and unsafe. Overriding a clinical alert exceeds the technician's scope of practice and can lead to severe patient harm.
• Cancel the prescription without notifying the pharmacist: This is incorrect. Canceling a prescribed therapy requires clinical evaluation and communication with the prescriber, which is outside the technician's duties.
• Notify the pharmacist of the alert before proceeding: This is correct. The technician must halt processing and bring clinical alerts to the pharmacist's attention so they can perform a clinical assessment.
• Contact the patient to ask if they have experienced any interactions before: This is incorrect. While gathering patient history is important, resolving a clinical DUR alert requires immediate pharmacist intervention.

Determine the correct action

The safest and legally required action for a pharmacy technician when encountering a clinical DUR alert is to notify the pharmacist immediately before taking any further action on the prescription.

Answer:

• Override the alert and continue processing the prescription.
• Cancel the prescription without notifying the pharmacist.
• Notify the pharmacist of the alert before proceeding. (Correct answer)
• Contact the patient to ask if they have experienced any interactions before.