Directly Speaking - PTCB’s Tech of the Year: A Great Concept and Technician!

As the Executive Vice President of ICHP, I have the privilege, pleasure and great responsibility to sit on the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, Inc.’s Board of Governors. In fact, as of January 1st, I completed my second 2-year term as Chairman of that Board. But one of the other privileges I enjoy is making personal appearances at PTCB functions from time to time.

The 2014 ASHP Midyear Meeting in Anaheim, California afforded me one of those opportunities at the PTCB Pharmacy Technician of the Year Reception on Tuesday evening. This was the second time PTCB bestowed this award and the first time to bring it to the Midyear Clinical Meeting. Judging from the overall excitement, attendance and support, the Midyear venue is here to stay. Besides a variety of PTCB Staff, other Illinois notables included Miriam Mobley-Smith and Jan Keresztes, both longtime PTCB and technician supporters.

But before I tell you just a little about this year’s award recipient, let me share a sneak peek of what may be coming for ICHP and Illinois technicians. The ICHP Division of Marketing Affairs is exploring development of an ICHP Technician of the Year Award for 2015. Discussions have just begun and work will need to be done quickly if we will present an award in 2015. The Division will review PTCB’s criteria and process for making the award, and if they choose to follow the PTCB lead, here’s what it might look like.

• The PTCB Tech of the Year must be certified for at least two years and in good standing at the time of nomination.
• The Certified Technician must reside in the United States or be on active military duty with the US armed forces.
• The Certified Technician must be nominated by a colleague, supervisor, teacher, employer, or other person.
• Name and contact information of the nominator must be provided at the time of nomination.
• References provided must be either a current or former supervisor, instructor, or professor.
• The person nominating the Certified Pharmacy Technician may serve as both nominator and reference if the requirements for being a reference are met.

The PTCB process is straightforward.  

• PTCB staff will review all submissions for completeness and conformity with criteria and forward those to the Finalist Selection Committee.
• The Finalist Selection Committee will evaluate the nomination materials and select a small list of finalists for online voting. The Committee will request photo headshots from finalists and may request additional material.
• PTCB will post an online ballot containing the names, photo and summary of the finalists’ submissions at www.ptcb.org, linking from email announcements and social media sites.
• After voting is closed, the committee will prepare a list of nominees who received the most votes. These individuals will be the top contenders for the Award.

The list will be evaluated by the PTCB Executive Director and an advisory Honoree Selection Committee. Additional information, such as resumes, CVs, comments or opinions, may be requested from the finalists. The Executive Director will choose the single PTCB CPhT of the Year. Only one honoree will be selected; however, PTCB reserves the right to choose more than one honoree on a case by case basis.

The PTCB CPhT of the Year recipient receives a $500 honorarium and registration, travel, lodging and meals in accordance with its travel policies to the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting, where the award is presented.

As you can see, this is not an easy or small award! But now let me tell you about Hannah Peabody, the 2014 PTCB CPhT of the Year. Hannah is employed at the Patient Rx Center of Hematology/Oncology Associates of Central New York (HOACNY), a private practice with more than 40 providers seeing 4,500 patients annually. She has helped secure more than $1,500,000 in financial support to assist patients filling their prescriptions at HOACNY’s center.

Hannah was hired to create an oncology physician dispensing platform and worked with her pharmacy manager, Michael Reff, RPh, MBA and an oncology nurse navigator, Deborah Walters, RN, OCN, to implement and execute new systems focused on accuracy, increased oral compliance, medication affordability, and patient convenience. Ms. Peabody’s personal priority is building close relationships with her patients. “Patients are as likely to want to tell me they have a new dog as they are to say they’re on a new treatment. Personal relationships translate into better compliance and better health. Patients call me about difficult medication side effects because they trust our team will help them feel better. We do, so they stick with their therapies.”

As you can see Hannah is a great example of what a Certified Pharmacy Technician can do and be! I’m sure we have some outstanding Certified Pharmacy Technicians in Illinois, and it would be great to see what they are up to and how they are making a difference in their patient’s lives! Watch for more details and get ready – you may be able to nominate your own CPhT of the Year candidate soon!