The average hourly wage for hospital pharmacy technician in Texas is $32.56, which is $15.54 more than the state average. The average yearly salary for hospital pharmacy technician in Texas is $66,890, which is $55,000 more than the state average. The table below shows a comparison of the hourly salary of a hospital pharmacy technician in Texas versus some other states.
hospital pharmacy technician salary in Texas
Hospital Pharmacy Technician Salary in Texas. The average salary for hospital pharmacy technicians in Texas is $31,110 and the highest paid pharmacists make around $40,600. In general, the highest paying locations for hospital pharmacy technician jobs include San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth, & Mcallen and most of these areas average over $35,000 per year.
What Does a Pharmacy Technician Do?
Pharmacy technicians assist licensed pharmacists in drug stores and hospitals. They mix medications, fill prescriptions, and handle paperwork. The job requires knowledge of medical terminology, strong math skills, and attention to detail.View Schools
Job Description
In a pharmacy, the routine work involving prescriptions and medications is usually handled by pharmacy technicians. Pharmacy technicians may supervise pharmacy assistants who perform general office work such as answering phones, operating cash registers, and stocking inventory. However, some employers assign these tasks to the technicians instead. The specific responsibilities of a pharmacy technician will depend on whether the job is in a retail or medical care environment. Pharmacy techs generally must refer patients’ questions about medicine to the pharmacist.
Important Facts About Pharmacy Technicians
| Key Skills | Interpersonal communication, customer service, attention to detail |
| Required Education | High school diploma or GED equivalent |
| Professional Certification | Available through the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board and the National Healthcareer Association |
| Similar Occupations | Pharmacist, health information technician, dental assistant |
Work Environments
Retail Pharmacies
Retail pharmacies can be independently-owned drug stores, chain drug stores, or pharmacy departments in convenience, grocery, and department stores. Some stores may operate by mail-order or through the Internet. Pharmacy technicians in retail locations receive and verify prescriptions from customers. They find, measure, and pour the medicine for that prescription, explains the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, www.bls.gov). In some cases, they may also compound the medication. After preparation, the prescription is priced, labeled, and filed for the pharmacist to check. Technicians may also be responsible for paperwork regarding customers, such as insurance claims.
Medical Care Facilities
A medical care facility can be a clinic, hospital, nursing home, or assisted-living facility. Pharmacy technicians here fill orders for medications based on a patient’s chart. They enter information on these medications into the patient’s profile, to ensure an accurate record of what the patient has been taking. Every day, pharmacy technicians create a 24-hour supply of prescribed medicine for each patient, with every dose labeled and packaged separately. Commonly prescribed medicine may come pre-packaged as single doses, so the technician needs only to select the right package. Otherwise, technicians must pack it themselves. Unlike their retail pharmacy counterparts, pharmacy technicians in medical care facilities also work with injectable medicines, which they transfer into disposable syringes for each patient’s 24-hour supply.
Hospital pharmacy technicians are also responsible for drug inventory. This includes keeping track of current stock, restocking nursing stations, and overseeing the operation of robotic inventory sorting systems.
Your salary as a hospital pharmacy technician varies considerably with experience. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, those who were employed full-time in the industry made an average salary of $24,000 during the first ten months of 2013 (www.bls.gov). However, many hospital pharmacy technician wages depend on where you work and what level of education you possess. Below are some hospitals in Texas which may be offering higher than average incomes by hiring pharmacy technicians with professional training from accredited schools and medical facilities.
