WASHINGTON — The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) has reached a milestone, passing the half-million mark in certifications.
PTCB said Wednesday that the total number of certifications it has granted hit 503,620 as of June 30. In 2012, 39,729 candidates passed the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE).
The board noted that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act will expand pharmacists’ duties to include more direct-patient care and medication therapy management, meaning that PTCB-certified pharmacy technicians (CPhTs) will increasingly be relied on to help pharmacists serve patients, support new pharmacy information systems and run pharmacy operations.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook projects that pharmacy technician employment will rise more than 32% between 2010 and 2020, compared to the BLS’ projected 14% growth for all occupations during the same period, according to PTCB.
"Passing the half-million mark is an exciting milestone in the growth of PTCB’s nationwide certification program," Everett McAllister, executive director and chief executive officer of PTCB, said in a statement. "The PTCB CPhT credential represents an excellent pathway to employment opportunities for pharmacy technicians. It enables them to stay current and be prepared to meet the requirements of the occupation as our healthcare system evolves."
PTCB’s national certification program serves the more than 274,000 currently active certified pharmacy technicians nationwide.
