​​FAQs ABOUT THE PHARMACY ASSISTANT

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• Who are the Pharmacy Assistants?

Pharmacy Assistants are trained members of staff who have completed a diploma in Pharmacy Assistance from an accredited college in Canada, and are able to perform a number of tasks including, but not limited to billing for and filling up prescriptions. They liaise with insurance companies to secure insurance coverage for clients.

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Pharmacy Assistants work in teams with pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to facilitate the scheduling of patients' refilling of medications and the progress of their consultations and procedures with the pharmacist.

 

Pharmacy Assistants are not receptionists. Only those in possession of a diploma in Pharmacy Assistance from an accredited college in Canada or the USA may work at CSDM as PhAs. The only exceptions to this rule are Registered Health Care Aides (RHCAs) who possess a certificate in Health Care Aide from an accredited institution, and holders of a foreign pharmacy degree accepted by PEBC. For more information regarding the minimum requirements and qualifications needed to work as an PhA at CSDM, please scroll to the bottom of this page.

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• What can our Pharmacy Assistants do?

  • Schedule and confirm appointments

  • Enter and format electronically based medical reports and correspondence

  • Prepare spreadsheets and documents for review

  • Interview patients in order to complete forms, documents and case histories

  • Complete insurance and other claim forms

  • Initiate and maintain confidential medical files and records

  • Prepare financial statements and billing

  • Establish and maintain various internal office administrative support procedures such as document tracking and filing and monthly reporting

  • Order supplies and maintain inventory

  • Determine and establish office procedures and routines

  • May supervise and train other staff in procedures and in use of current software.

  • Prepare patients for the pharmacist's consultation;

  • Screen patients for signs of stroke or myocardial infarction according to a pre-approved protocol and screening tool;

  • Prescreen patients for UTI symptoms to triage them to either the pharmacist prescriber or to the Urgent Care Centre when walk-ins are not available in the clinic;

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• Is it safe for me to share medical or personal information with a Pharmacy Assistant?

Pharmacy Assistants are bound by the same confidentiality laws that pharmacists and other health care professionals must abide.

 

Even though they may sometimes be sitting at a reception, Pharmacy Assistants are trained members of staff who have completed a diploma in Pharmacy Assistance at an accredited college in Canada.

 

This means that our PhAs are trained members of staff with that abide by a code of conduct and legal/professional responsibilities. Therefore, you are safe to share personal or medical information with a PhA when required to do so. Whatever you say to the PhA will remain with the PhA and with the pharmacist who cares for you. The PhA will keep your information safe at all times and will deal with it in a professional manner as expected of a trained health care member of staff.