While April does spotlight diabetes education and prevention, for Medco – a leading healthcare company, every month is Diabetes Awareness month, says Merri Pendergrass, M.D., vice president, national practice leader of Medco Diabetes Therapeutic Resource Center. “We have a Diabetes Therapeutic Resource Center which contains a core team of specialized pharmacists dedicated to Medco members with diabetes on a 24/7 basis,” she explains. Medco’s diabetes specialist pharmacists work closely with their members, are familiar with the needs of those with diabetes and specialize specifically in the treatment of the condition. On a daily basis the pharmacists help members manager their medications, alert them of any safety issues, gaps or omissions in care, and offer lower cost therapy options and diabetes education, says Pendergrass.

“The first priority is always to ensure the safety of those with diabetes, which starts with making sure they take the right medication as prescribed. This important combination helps them lead happier and healthier lives, which helps keep their overall health costs lower,” says Pendergrass.

Additionally, Medco pharmacists discuss mail order pharmacy options or generic alternatives to the patient’s current medication – two simple ways those with diabetes can save money on their prescriptions each month.

.Reference resource: Click Here.

Other pharmacy technician duties include labeling and monitoring of the medication, whether in a drug retail store, an independently owned pharmacy, or an online drug store. you should have the skill or desire in being organized. Also, this job requires you to come in contact with doctors and patients, so a sociable character goes a long way in having a successful pharmacy assistant job.

It also gives you a firm background on medicine and pharmaceuticals, if ever you plan on pursuing a career as a licensed pharmacist. No other job provides you with a great foundation and the knowledge needed in becoming a pharmacist.

.Reference resource: Click Here.

The customers should take proper steps in determining whether an online pharmacy is legitimate or not. Buying a drug from an illegal/ unethical pharmacy exposes the patient to the risk of receiving contaminated or counterfeit drugs. Unsafe or wrong medicines can lead to drug interactions that can cause serious health complexities. Furthermore such unethical pharmacies fall way short in maintaining good service standards.

In order to determine the legitimacy of a pharmacy, patients should find out whether the Internet pharmacy is licensed or has been certified by a verification authority. Licensed pharmacies usually provide a direct link to their licensing/ verification authority. Patients should ideally place an order only after verifying this status.

Patients should make sure whether the online pharmacy provides a valid physical address and proper contact details to answer customer queries. Good pharmacies believe in maintaining strong pre and post sales relations with their customers, therefore they always provide a valid contact number to welcome customer queries. Online pharmacies processing orders without a valid prescription or indulging in the practice of generating fake prescriptions should be avoided.

The so-called “quick-recovery”/ “quick-relief” drugs can pose serious health complexities if consumed without prior consultation of a registered medical practitioner. Avoid those sites that try to market themselves by finding out faults among their competitors or make tall claims without any relevant grounds to support them.

Health Chemist is an international online pharmacy specialising in natural health and food supplements, weight loss and dieting products, remedies & natural health treatments and discount cosmetics including Revlon, Loreal, Jurlique, Dr Hauschka & Neutrogena skin care products. The store incorporates a natural health section which has one of the highest sales turnovers of any individual Health Shop in New Zealand and incorporates an enormous range and variety of product. Their physical retail store is located in Browns Bay on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand and has operated a very successful and unique pharmacy and natural health store for over forty years.

Health Chemist employs highly qualified staff including pharmacists and naturopaths who are always available to answer any health-related queries. Health Chemist has some of the best health information resources available to you for free. If you wish to learn more about what other medication you can safely take with your prescription medication, or learn more about different ailments or even about specific herbs, homeopathics and vitamins you need go no further.

Historically, herbalists, chemists and apothecaries filled the role of pharmacist. As the volume of medical lore grew pharmacy became a specialized medical tradition of its own. In some ancient cultures like medieval Japan, the pharmacist was accorded a status even higher than the doctors, acupuncturists and other health related professionals. The pharmacist is also a trained professional who has passed through extensive medical training and learned how drugs work on the body and the potential interactions of different medicines. They must be familiar with at least basic diagnosis of diseases, their therapeutic effects and the art of prescribed medicines and what forms are best for a doctor’s patient.

In this article, we are going to explore the job description, specifications and qualifications needed to become a pharmacy technician.

The first question one should ask is… what is a pharmacy technician and what does a pharmacy technician do? First of all, a pharmacy technician is not a pharmacist. A pharmacist must have a degree in pharmacy. On the other hand, a pharmacy technician isn’t burdened with the same requirements and responsibilities.

In a nutshell, a pharmacy technician is an assistant pharmacist but has job responsibilities one step higher than that of a pharmacist aide.

Let’s break down the official definition of pharmacy technicians’ job title into two parts. The pharmacist or pharmacy aspect of the job requires you to have a working knowledge of drugs and medicine. A pharmacy technician must also know the difference between cough tablets and aspirin and have the knowledge to navigate the fine line between headache pills and tablets to help relieve PMS and they must also be able to handle the basic operations of a pharmacy if the pharmacist is on vacation or nowhere to be found.

The technical aspect of the job also requires the pharmacy technician to have exemplary organizational skills and they may be also be required to label medicine bottles and categorize them under the correct name or group – the 100 mg label must go on the 100 mg bottle. Just one error, one tiny oversight could result in very negative consequences for a patient.

Other tasks include being able to work under pressure because there will be days that the drugstore or pharmacy where you work has people lined up to get their prescriptions filled.

As a pharmacy technician, you will also be responsible for supplying aid to licensed pharmacists as they provide patients with medication and other healthcare products. A well trained, competent pharmacy technician must therefore be knowledgeable enough to suggest alternative brands for off the counter medication but alternatives for prescribed medication is solely the responsibility of licensed pharmacists.

A pharmacy technician is sometimes required to perform certain manual tasks like labeling bottles, counting pills or doing inventory. In some areas of the country, the tasks of a pharmacy technician and a pharmacist aide overlap so don’t be surprised if on occasion, you end up being asked to complete tasks meant for the latter. This could include acting as a cashier, answering phone inquiries, stocking shelves and other clerical duties. While there are several pharmacy technician duties that a pharmacist aide can never perform, there are few pharmacist aide tasks that a pharmacy technician cannot perform.

The job responsibilities of a pharmacy technician can vary depending on the type of business the pharmacy they work at is located in. For example, a pharmacy technician is usually assigned to handle orders sent through courier or even email in a mail order pharmacy and upon verification that the order is correctly and properly filled up, the pharmacist technician is then required to do the actual counting, weighing and mixing of the prescription.

On the other hand, in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and so forth a pharmacy technician may have the added responsibilities of record filing and the updating of patient files – especially those related a patient’s medication.

If the allure of a pharmacy technician career appeals to you, check out the links below.