ASHP and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) just released revisions to the Accreditation Standards for Pharmacy Technician Education and Training Programs, which serve as a guide for the development of ASHP/ACPE accredited pharmacy technician education and training programs. The new standards will become effective for new programs on January 1, 2019. The standards are available here.

The revised standards now define competencies that differentiate entry-level and advanced training. Programs can choose to offer either an entry-level program, an advanced-level program, or a training program that offers both levels. The minimum hour requirements for programs were revised to reflect the education and training needs for entry-level and advanced-level competencies.

A number of environmental factors, including changes in state laws allowing for expanded roles, responsibilities, and authority for pharmacy technicians, prompted the reassessment of the standards, which were last revised in 2015. A broad range of stakeholders interested in or affected by pharmacy technician education and training offered input on the revisions. ASHP and ACPE also considered the recommendations of the 2017 Pharmacy Technician Stakeholder Consensus Conference, recent blueprints and task analyses of nationally accredited pharmacy technician certifying bodies, and the experience gained by the PTAC in its review of training programs.  

For more information, go to: https://www.ashp.org/news/2018/07/11/ashp-acpe-release-revised-accreditation-standards-for-pharmacy-technician-education-and-training  

The issue brief can be found here.